According to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board series of reports, 9 a pi

Question

According to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board series of reports, 9 a piece of foam detached from the main external fuel 9 Columbia Accident Investigation Board. Report Volume I. http://caib1. nasa.gov/news/report/pdf/vol1/full/ caib _ report _ volume1.pdf , August 2013 . [Online; accessed 21 -May- 2015 ; pages 61 - 2 ] tank during launch and damaged the space shuttle’s wing, which caused the deaths of all on board upon reentry on February 1 , 2003 . The mass of the foam piece was estimated at 1.67 lb and the foam struck the shuttle’s wing with a relative speed of about 545 mph. Using SI units, answer the following:

(a) How much kinetic energy did the foam have?

(b) How fast would a 10 lb sledge hammer have to be traveling to have the same kinetic energy?

Explanation / Answer

Mass of Foam, m = 1.67 lb
m = 0.757 Kg

Speed of Foam, v = 545 mph
Speed of Foam, v = 243.64 m/s

(a)
Kinetic Energy of Foam, K.E = 0.5* m*v^2
K.E = 0.5*0.757*243.64^2 J
K.E = 22468 J
Kinetic Energy of Foam, K.E = 22468 J

(b)
Weight of Sledge Hammer , m = 10 lb
m = 4.54 Kg

Let the speed of Sledge hammer = V
Kinetic Energy = 0.5*m*v^2

22468 J = 0.5*4.54*v^2
v= sqrt(22468/(0.5*4.54))
v = 99.5 m/s = 222.6 mph

Speed of Sledge hammer to have the same kinetic energy, v = 99.5 m/s or 222.6 mph

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