Applied Project - Stage 2
Note: All calculations must show your step-by step work to receive credit.
1. As mentioned before, our asteroid is in the shape of a sphere and has a mass of 1000 kilograms. Determine the density (in grams per cubic centimeter) of this asteroid if its diameter is known to be 1.2 meters. Useful information: 1 kg = 1000 g, 1 m = 100 cm, volume of sphere = 4/3 π r3. Remember that the radius of a sphere is equal to half its diameter. Show all of your work.
2. How does your calculated density (in grams per cubic centimeter) compare to the density of liquid water? Would you expect this asteroid to float or sink in water based on your calculations? What else do you need to take into consideration when making your decision? Explain your answers fully.
3. One side of our asteroid is constantly illuminated by the Sun while the other side remains in the dark. Do you expect there to be a temperature difference between the light and dark sides? Explain why or why not. If the two sides are at different temperatures, how might heat transfer from one side to the other? Note that our asteroid does not have enough gravity to hold an atmosphere.
4. Occasionally an asteroid will break into fragments due to a collision. These fragments, which often contain ice, can leave the asteroid belt and make their way to Earth. Upon entering Earth's atmosphere, the fragment would be heated to a high temperature by frictional forces. What would happen to any ice contained within the fragment? What type of phase change would this be? Is this type of change considered a chemical change or a physical change? Explain.
5. Due to friction with the Earth's atmosphere, a large static electric charge could build up on a plummeting asteroid fragment. Would you expect the fragment to generate a electric field in this situation? Explain why or why not.
6. Would you expect the plummeting fragment from the previous question to generate a magnetic field? Explain why or why not.
7. Would you expect the plummeting fragment from the previous question to have any effect on nearby electric power lines? Explain why or why not.
8. A large in-falling fragment could be tracked using radar. Explain how distance, speed, and the direction of motion, of the fragment could be determined.