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Kildars
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Homework Statement
On August 10, 1972, a large meteorite skipped across the atmosphere above western United States and Canada, much like a stone skipped across water. The accompanying fireball was so bright that it could be seen in the daytime sky (Fig. 7-24). The meteorite's mass was about 4 x 10^6 kg. Its speed was about 15 km/s. Had it entered the atmosphere vertically, it would have hit the Earth's surface with about the same speed.
(a) Calculate the meteorite's loss of kinetic energy (in joules) that would have been associated with the vertical impact.
J
(b) Express the energy as a multiple of the explosive energy of 1 megaton of TNT, which is 4.2 1015 J.
megaton TNT
(c) The energy associated with the atomic bomb explosion over Hiroshima was equivalent to 13 kilotons of TNT. To how many "Hiroshima bombs" would the meteorite impact have been equivalent?
Homework Equations
I'm pretty confused on how to start this one, I guess this unit I have been pretty lost the whole unit. So if someone could give me a good way of starting I would greatly appreciate it.
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