Most geologists believe that the dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago w

Question

Most geologists believe that the dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago when a large comet or asteroid struck the earth, throwing up so much dust that the sun was blocked out for a period of many months. Suppose an asteroid with a diameter of 9.0 km and a mass of 1.0 times 10^15 kg hits the earth with an impact speed of2.5 times 10^4 m/s. What is the earth's recoil speed after such a collision? Assume that the mass of the earth is 5.98 middot 10^24 kg. (Use a reference frame in which the earth was initially at rest.) Express your answer to two significant figures and include the appropriate units. What percentage is this of the earth's speed around the sun? Assume that the orbit of the earth is a circle with the radius of 1.5 middot 10^11 m Express your answer using two significant figures. A typical raindrop is much more massive than a mosquito and falling much faster than a mosquito flies. How does a mosquito survive the impact? Recent research has found that the collision of a falling raindrop with a mosquito is a perfectly inelastic collision. That is, the mosquito is " swept up" by the raindrop and ends up traveling along with the raindrop. Once the relative speed between the mosquito and the raindrop is zero, the mosquito is able to detach itself from the drop and fly away. A hovering mosquito is hit by a raindrop that is 50 times as massive and falling at 8.7 m/s. a typical raindrop speed. How fast is the raindrop, with the attached mosquito, falling immediately afterward if the collision is perfectly inelastic? Express your answer to two significant figures and include the appropriate units. Because a raindrop is " soft" and deformable, the collision duration is a relatively long 8.0 ms. What is the mosquito's average acceleration, in g's, during the collision? The peak acceleration is roughly twice the value you found, but the mosquito's rigid exoskeleton allows it to survive accelerations of this magnitude. In contrast, humans cannot survive an acceleration of more than about 10 g. Express your answer using two significant figures.

Explanation / Answer

part a:

recoil speed of earth=initial momentum of the asteroid/(mass of earth+mass of asteroid)

=10^15*2.5*10^4/(10^15+5.98*10^24)=4.181*10^(-6) m/s

part B:

earth speed around sun=total distance/total time

=2*pi*1.5*10^11/(365*24*3600)

=29885.77 m/s

so Vrecoil/Vorbital=1.4*10^(-10) =1.4*10^(-8) %

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse M
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.