I tore apart several old hard drive for the magnets inside. After playing with them for a bit I decided to tie a string to them and drag them about on a nearby beach. I am getting all sorts of rocks that are attracted to them.
How do I determine what type of rock I am picking up and what are the chances of me picking up a meteorite. Can I find some valuble objects doing this? Has anyone here done this before?
I do know it is fun.
Finding a meteorite? Pretty good.
This was a simple Astronomy lab when I was in college. We put magnets in a plastic bag ran it over some dirt piles then using a microscope analyzed what we picked up. Sure enough a good majority of groups in our class ended up with one. Look for a very round metallic looking object.
I found a few sites on helping to identify meteorites.
I was hoping for a few more sites. Sometimes google does not uncover the best.
The plastic bag was a good suggestion as to not damage my magnets as bad, any other suggestions for meteorite hunting?
Some very nice meteorites turn up on top of the wind swept glaciers in Antartica. May be a small problem of returning home with them. Public/International treaties etc. you know.
Also, the roads to get out there could do with some improvement.
I am kinda far away from there.
I live in Alaska.
Don’t slip the magnets into your back pocket next to your wallet, like I did. They will destroy the information on the magnetic stripe of any credit cards or similar that you have there.
I don’t have any suggestions on meteorite hunting though, sorry.
Ok I did learn that the plastic back trick is to keep the magnets clean as well. Trying to get finely powdered iron off a super strong magnets is tough business.
My dad set me up with a magnet on a rope to drag around grandma’s back yard to keep me entertained when I was 3-4 years old.
It took me about 2 minutes (almost long enough for dad to get back in the house) before I drug it across a bee who was not amused.
This was my first ever bee sting, and at that age I was screaming bloody murder.
Not that this is a likely occurance, but it is what comes to mind at any mention of magnetic trolling.
< VOS SAVANT> WOW! Magnets attract bees!</VOS SAVANT> 
My father has collected tiny meteorites from rainwater using magnets. Hose the sludge out of your rain gutters and collect the runoff in a bucket, then let the stuff settle for a while. Then trawl your bagged magnet through the bottom of the bucket. The grit that sticks to the magnet can be examined under a microscope or powerful hand lens - the spherical grains are the micrometeorites.
My friends and I used to use magnets in plastic baggies to gather iron filings from the sand in our school’s track-and-field long jump pit. Then we could use the filings to demonstrate magnetic force lines in science class and get A’s.