2 Deep Impact It is widely accepted that a meteor impact 65 million years ago ca

Question

2 Deep Impact It is widely accepted that a meteor impact 65 million years ago caused a mass extinction of life on our planet, relegating the dinosaurs to the fossil record. The meteor was about 5 miles in diameter and moving at about 20 miles per second relative to the earth Assume the density was similar to that of the earth, about 5.5 g/cnm (a) The meteor was vaporized during the impact and most of its kinetic energy was converted into heat. How much energy was released? Report your result in joules (J) (b) This was an inelastic collision: The meteor ended up as a layer of dust about half an inch thick covering the entire planet. How much did the velocity of the earth change as a result of the impact?

Explanation / Answer

mass= density x volume=

density = 5.5 g/cm^3= 5500 kg/ m^3

volume = ( 4/3)_ pi r^3= ( 4/3) (3.14) (4023.36m )^3=

mass = 1.499 x 10^15 kg

KE released = 1/2 mv^2 = 0.5 ( 1.499 x 10^15) (32186.9 m/s)^2= 0.5 ( 1.499 ) (1.04 ) x 10^ 15 x 10^ 9 = 7.79x 10^ 23 J

b) v = (  1.499 x 10^15 kg ) (32186.9 ) / ( 1.499 x 10^15 + 6 x 10^24) ( 6x 10^24 is the mass of earth)

v for eartb after collision = 8.05 x 10^-6 m/s

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