Question

One of the main contributing factors to the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was a large comet or asteroid that struck the earth. It threw up so much dust that the sun was blocked for a period of many months. Suppose the asteroid had a mass of 2.0 x 1013 and hit the earth (mass = 6 x 10 kg) with an impact speed of 3.5 * 10 m/s. What would be the earth's recoil speed after such a collision? (Use a reference frame in which the earth was initially at rest.) m/s What percentage is this of the earth's speed around the sun, 3 x 10 m/s? (Hint: Take the change in speed, divide by the earth's orbital speed, and multiply by 100 to make it a percentage rather than a decimal.)

please show work/formulas and answers so I can understand where the numbers and such are coming from. thanks!

Answer 1

Solnir HeЯ, Pg: -1 mass of asteroid, m= 2.0x1013 kg mass of Earth, m = 6x1024 kg from the conservation of momentum : - mv, to = (m+m) & [As the earth is initially at rest] V = mv, mim Put the known values and solve: – = 2.0 x103 kg * 3.5x10 m/s 8.0 x 1024 kg + 2.061013 kg Earth's recoil V = 167x 10" speed or change in speed b) Earth's orbital speed is 30kmls or 30x 103 m/s Thus, calculate the percentage. f = Change in speed – x 100 Earth's orbital speed - 1.167 x 10 ml & 100 30x 103 m/s op ge= 3.89 X 10 -10 4