Question

Most geologists believe that the dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago when a large comet or asteroid struck the earth, throwing up so much dust that the sun was blocked out for a period of many months. Suppose an asteroid with a diameter of 2.0 km and a mass of 1.1 ×10^13 kg hits the earth (6.0×10^24 kg) with an impact speed of 3.9 ×10^4 m/s.

Part A: What is the earth’s recoil speed after such a collision? (Use a reference frame in which the earth was initially at rest.)

Part B: What percentage is this of the earth’s speed around the sun? The earth orbits the sun at a distance of 1.5 ×10^11 m.

Answer 1