Question

A 50-kg meteorite moving at 1000 m/s strikes Earth. Assume the velocity is along the line joining Earth's center of mass and the meteor's center of mass.
(a) Calculate the amount of kinetic energy converted to internal energy measured Irk in., the Earth reference frame.
(b) What is the gain in Earth's kinetic energy?
(c) Why does the ground around where the meteor strikes get so hot?

Answer 1

Answer:

a)  amount of kinetic energy converted to internal energy  = 2.5 x 10 raised to power 7 Joule

b) Kinetic energy gained by the earth = 2.1 x 10-16J

c) All the kinetic energy is converted to internal energy and the energy is further converted to thermal energy hence the reason for the hotness at around where the meteorite strikes.

Explanation:

The detailed steps and appropriate application of the law of conservation of momentum is as shown in the attached file.