Two FBI agents (let’s call them Mulder and Scully) are investigating the wreckag
ID: 1467618 • Letter: T
Question
Two FBI agents (let’s call them Mulder and Scully) are investigating the wreckage of the spaceship is in three large pieces around a northern Colorado town. One piece (mass = 300 kg) of the spaceship landed 6.0 km due north of the center of town. Another piece (mass = 1000 kg) landed 1.6 km to the southeast (36 degrees south of east) of the center of town. The last piece (mass = 400 kg) landed 4.0 km to the southwest (65 degrees south of west) of the center of town. There are no more pieces of the spaceship. The Air Force, which was watching the spaceship on its radar, claims it was moving with a constant speed of 5 m/s to the east at a height of 1.96 km. It was 100 m west of the center of town when the spaceship spontaneously exploded and the pieces fell to the ground. There is also evidence that none of the pieces acquired appreciable vertical velocities immediately after the explosion. Agents Mulder and Scully think a missile hit it. Are the fragments consistent with the spaceship exploding spontaneously? If not, can you tell what direction the missile came from?
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Explanation / Answer
to have consistance
center of mass of pieces must be coincicde at center of town
thus Xcm = m1x1+ m2x2................/(m1+m2......)
Xcm = (300*0 + 1000*1.6*cos(36) -400*4*cos(65))/(300+1000+400)
Xcm = 0 .364 km
as this is not matching with the exact centre,
there is a change in COM and hnece i guess itwas hit by missile
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