Learner Resource 3: Meteorites
Meteorites are lumps of rock and metal that crash through our atmosphere. They burn up as they
get heated by friction with the air. Usually they break up before they hit the ground, but not always.

Calculate the kinetic energy of a 100kg meteorite travelling at 2000ms-1 relative to the Earth.

Calculate the amount of kinetic energy it would gain as it fell to the ground (the Earth’s radius is
6400km and its mass is 6.0x1024kg).

What would be its total kinetic energy on impact, assuming negligible air resistance?
Impact Experiment
You will be using a marble landing in a sand tray to simulate a
meteorite impact.
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Drop the marble from different heights and record the diameters of the resulting craters.

Plot a suitable graph and determine the relationship between crater diameter and drop height.
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