On April 13, 2029 (Friday the 13th!), the asteroid 99942 Apophis will pass withi

Question

On April 13, 2029 (Friday the 13th!), the asteroid 99942 Apophis will pass within 18600 mi of the earth-about 1/13 the distance to the moon! It has a density of 2600 kg/m^3, can be modeled as a sphere 320 m in diameter, and will be traveling at 12.6 km/s
-If, due to a small disturbance in its orbit, the asteroid were to hit the earth, how much kinetic energy would it deliver? (in J)
-The largest nuclear bomb ever tested by the United States was the "Castle/Bravo" bomb, having a yield of 15 megatons of TNT. (A megaton of TNT releases 4.184*10^15 J of energy.) How many Castle/Bravo bombs would be equivalent to the energy of Apophis? (n=?)

Explanation / Answer

1) KE = (1/2)mv^2 m = density * volume volume = (4/3)pi*r^3 r = 160m vol = 17157284.68 m^3 mass = vol*density = 4.461e10 kg v= 12.6 km/s = 12600 m/s KE = 3.5411*e18 J 2)no. of bombs = 15*(3.5411e18/4.184e15) = 12695 bombs are equivalent

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse O
• Subjects

---

---

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