by NoelC » Mon Jan 07, 2008 6:13 pm
FieryIce wrote:It is well known that an object/meteoroid in motion will penetrate a surface like a bullet penetrates wood but vaporize from penetrating an object unlikely.
Why do you say that? And why wood? Do things in space or in the context of this particular discussion typically have the density of wood? Wood is soft and pliable. I doubt many things up there are anything like that.
A bullet breaks up into fragments because it is going maybe 1000 miles per hour. If something hard hits something else hard going 10 or 100 times that fast, the energy released is much greater than that carried by a bullet. I see reason to think material might vaporize as a result.
And you can't compare a meteor entering the Earth's atmosphere to an impact in space, either. The Space Shuttle can re-enter the atmosphere too, dissipating the energy gradually as heat. I doubt you'd be able to recognize any part of it, however, if you slammed it into the moon at 17,000 miles per hour. You'd probably have to analyze the vapor.
-Noel
[quote="FieryIce"]It is well known that an object/meteoroid in motion will penetrate a surface like a bullet penetrates wood but vaporize from penetrating an object unlikely. [/quote]
Why do you say that? And why wood? Do things in space or in the context of this particular discussion typically have the density of wood? Wood is soft and pliable. I doubt many things up there are anything like that.
A bullet breaks up into fragments because it is going maybe 1000 miles per hour. If something hard hits something else hard going 10 or 100 times that fast, the energy released is much greater than that carried by a bullet. I see reason to think material might vaporize as a result.
And you can't compare a meteor entering the Earth's atmosphere to an impact in space, either. The Space Shuttle can re-enter the atmosphere too, dissipating the energy gradually as heat. I doubt you'd be able to recognize any part of it, however, if you slammed it into the moon at 17,000 miles per hour. You'd probably have to analyze the vapor.
-Noel