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I found this rock today on my property. It looks similar to another rock I saw that was said to be a civil war cannon ball, however comments below suggest that it could be a geode.

  1. Are there any tests I can do short of breaking it in half to find out if it is a geode?
  2. If I wanted to break it into two halves in a nice way (rather than smash it up into several random pieces) how might I do that?

possible geode?

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  • $\begingroup$ it is not a cannonball(they are made of iron) $\endgroup$ – trond hansen Sep 2 '19 at 4:21
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    $\begingroup$ @trond hansen: It was actually quite common in some times/places to make cannonballs out of stone, though I think not in the US Civil War: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_shot $\endgroup$ – jamesqf Sep 2 '19 at 4:39
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    $\begingroup$ It's definitely not a cannon ball, it's not round enough. It looks very similar to some geodes I found in Oman many years ago. To test if it is a geode, you have to break it open. Geodes are hollow inside and usually lined with pretty quartz crystals, but more rarely contain amethyst or opal. $\endgroup$ – Michael Walsby Sep 2 '19 at 7:16
  • $\begingroup$ Rock identification requests are being phased out, so I've modified your question in order to make it more likely to be on-topic, then voted to reopen. Welcome to Stack Exchange! $\endgroup$ – uhoh Sep 5 '19 at 7:58
  • $\begingroup$ The best thing would be to use an angle grinder, which is a portable electric tool for cutting through hard materials If you can't find one, try a large hacksaw. One of your neighbours will probably have one. $\endgroup$ – Michael Walsby Sep 6 '19 at 18:52

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