Meteor Explodes over Russia

[DFIB]

Quantifying it is rater interesting:

The object had an approximate mass of 7,000 metric tonnes and a velocity of 33,000 miler per hour. Let's crunch the numbers:

Kinetic Energy = 1/2[ M(V)2] (M needs to be in kilograms and V needs to be in metres/second)

7,000 tonnes is around 7 million kilograms (short tonnes). 33,000 miles per hour is around 52,800 kilometres/hour. 52,800 kilometres per hour is about 880 kilometres/minute, is about 15 kilometres per second, is about 15,000 metres/second.

KE = 1/2 [7 mil * (15,000)2 ] = ~7.9 * (10)14 Joules

* A Joule is a derived unit of work and/or energy with the units Kg*(Metre) 2/(Second) 2 or basically simplified to 1 Joule ~ force of 1 Newton applied over the distance of 1 metre.

*A Newton is a unit of force where 1 Newton will accelerate a 1 Kg mass to 1m/s/s

The Hiroshima bomb by comparison released ~6.3 × 10^{13 Joules}

Is my math good?

Huh? Dude you are awesome!

[chbare]

Not really. Wish I could say I am more awesome than I really am. The formula for kinetic energy is pretty simple, plug and chug stuff. However, you have to input the proper units. I think my math is reasonably good because the number I calculated is about an order of magnitude (10 times) the number that is published for the Hiroshima bomb.

[Richard B the EMT]

chbare, you must be one of those people who like math for math's own sake. I, on the other hand, am definitively NOT!

[DFIB]

Not really. Wish I could say I am more awesome than I really am. The formula for kinetic energy is pretty simple, plug and chug stuff. However, you have to input the proper units. I think my math is reasonably good because the number I calculated is about an order of magnitude (10 times) the number that is published for the Hiroshima bomb.

I did not know the formula for KE or had forgotten it. It seems that I should have learned it at some time during kinematics. Thanks for the information/reminder.

[chbare]

chbare, you must be one of those people who like math for math's own sake. I, on the other hand, am definitively NOT!

Not really. In fact, when I first went to college back in the 90's, my ACT scores along with my entrance exams scores were so low that I had to take several credits of remedial or developmental math before I could take the lower level prerequisite classes. Unfortunately, many people who come out of high school are in a similar situation and mathematical illiteracy is something we have to combat at the college. Therefore, I am exposed to quite a bit of math as I try to find easy and intuitive methods to help bring people up to par. Additionally, I have come to realise that only through mathematics can you make any quantitative sense of the world. It is truly a foundational subject if you wish to learn anything about the physical world. Finally, in health care, mathematics is less abstract and actually makes tangible predictions such as with dosage calculations, Oxygen flow duration and so on.

Edited February 18, 2013 by chbare