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5. (20 points) About 50,000 years ago, a meteor crashed into the earth near p ...
5. (20 points) About 50,000 years ago, a meteor crashed into the earth near present-day Flagstaff, Arizona. Measurements from 2005 estimate that this meteor had a mass of about 1.5∗108kg (around 150,000 tons) and hit the ground at a speed of 13km/s. (a) How much kinetic energy did this meteor deliver to the ground? (b) How does this energy compare to the energy released by a 1.0megaton nuclear bomb? (A megaton bomb releases the same amount of energy as a million tons of TNT, and 1.0 ton of TNT releases 4.184∗109J of energy.)