[meteorite-list] reflective or 'glassy' surfaces

From: VisualThinker7 at aol.com <VisualThinker7_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 7 Jan 2007 18:06:47 EST
Message-ID: <53b.47a6cf47.32d2d707_at_aol.com>

Whoa. Lots of nonsense going on here.
 
Reflective surfaces, such as glass or some metals, DO have a crystalline
structure. In fact, it is the uniform alignment of the surfaces of the molecules
that make the material reflective, or glassy.
 
Amorphous, or non crystalline materials also reflect light, but because of
the highly varied positions of the molecules the reflections are scattered, and
 the material is not reflective.
 
Polishing metals aligns the surface molecules. Cleaning dust, dirt or dried
beer off of glass restores it's reflective qualities. Cracking scratching or
abrading a 'glassy' surface (as by sanding with sandpaper) disorganized the
molecules, reducing the reflectivity.
 
The heating of a meteor might create a glassy surface, however the speed of
air striking the hot surface might also cause a chemical reaction, or pitting,
 in which case the 'fusion crust' clearly would be caused by heat, but not
reflective.
 
 
PS The term 'glassy eyed' refers to a fixed gaze.When a person is staring
blankly into space you can see the reflection of light off of the eyeballs.
The eyes of an animated person, in constant motion, have a different
appearance.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/attachments/20070107/239beb27/attachment.htm>
Received on Sun 07 Jan 2007 06:06:47 PM PST