On August 10, 1972 a meteorite with an estimated mass of 4 x 10^6 kg and an esti

Question

On August 10, 1972 a meteorite with an estimated mass of 4 x 10^6 kg and an estimated speed of 15km/s skipped across the atmosphere above the western United States and Canada but fortunately did not hit the Earth.

(a) Assuming that the meteroite had hit the Earth with a speed of 15km/s, what would have been its change in kinetic energy in joules (J)?

(b) Express the energy as a multiple of the explosive energy of 1 megaton of TNT, which is 4.2 x 10^15 J.

(c) The energy associated with the Hiroshima atomic bomb was 13 kilotons of TNT. To how many such bombs would the meteorite impact have been equivalent?

Explanation / Answer

a) KE = 1/2 m v^2 = 0.5*4.0E6*(15.0E3)^2=4.5E14 J

b) 4.5E14/4.2E15=0.107 megatons

c) 0.107E6/13E3=8.23

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