Astronomers estimate that a 2.0 km diameter asteroid collides with the Earth once every million years. The collision could pose a threat to life on Earth. Assume a spherical asteroid has a mass of 3020 kg for each cubic meter of volume and moves toward the Earth at 13.3 km/s. How much destructive energy could be released when it embeds itself in the earth?

Question

Physics

Malia Robles

1 July, 05:02

Astronomers estimate that a 2.0 km diameter asteroid collides with the Earth once every million years. The collision could pose a threat to life on Earth. Assume a spherical asteroid has a mass of 3020 kg for each cubic meter of volume and moves toward the Earth at 13.3 km/s. How much destructive energy could be released when it embeds itself in the earth?

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Nicolas Faulkner · Answer 1

The energy that will be released will be 8.95*10^ (21) Joules

for comparison, the Nagasaki atom bomb released 8.8*10^ (13) Joules

so this meteorite is (8.95*10^ (21)) / (8.8*10^ (13)) = 100*10^6 (100 million) times more destructive