Astronomers predict that on Friday 13 April 2029 the asteroid 99942 Apophis is going to pass within 30,000 km of the Earth. Given the fact that, on average, the Moon is 385,000 km distant from the Earth, this asteroid is going to pass pretty darn close. 99942 Apophis has a mass of 2.7*10^10 kg and is expected to be traveling at a speed of 12.6 km/s relative to the Earth at the time of closest approach. What if astronomers goofed in their calculations and the asteroid is actually going to hit the Earth? With what kinetic energy would 99942 Apophis impact the Earth in terms of megatons of TNT? A detonation of 1 megaton of TNT releases 4.2 * 10^15 Joules of energy.
Gravitational force
In nature, every object is attracted by every other object. This phenomenon is called gravity. The force associated with gravity is called gravitational force. The gravitational force is the weakest force that exists in nature. The gravitational force is always attractive.
Acceleration Due to Gravity
In fundamental physics, gravity or gravitational force is the universal attractive force acting between all the matters that exist or exhibit. It is the weakest known force. Therefore no internal changes in an object occurs due to this force. On the other hand, it has control over the trajectories of bodies in the solar system and in the universe due to its vast scope and universal action. The free fall of objects on Earth and the motions of celestial bodies, according to Newton, are both determined by the same force. It was Newton who put forward that the moon is held by a strong attractive force exerted by the Earth which makes it revolve in a straight line. He was sure that this force is similar to the downward force which Earth exerts on all the objects on it.
Astronomers predict that on Friday 13 April 2029 the asteroid 99942 Apophis is going to pass within 30,000 km of the Earth. Given the fact that, on average, the Moon is 385,000 km distant from the Earth, this asteroid is going to pass pretty darn close. 99942 Apophis has a mass of 2.7*10^10 kg and is expected to be traveling at a speed of 12.6 km/s relative to the Earth at the time of closest approach. What if astronomers goofed in their calculations and the asteroid is actually going to hit the Earth?
With what kinetic energy would 99942 Apophis impact the Earth in terms of megatons of TNT?
A detonation of 1 megaton of TNT releases 4.2 * 10^15 Joules of energy.
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