[meteorite-list] A "Strike" with a spare ball
From: Matson, Robert <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:32:45 2004 Message-ID: <AF564D2B9D91D411B9FE00508BF1C86904EE5A21_at_US-Torrance.mail.saic.com> This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. ------_=_NextPart_001_01C400BD.9FDA19CA Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Hi Doug, Good point on the density of a bowling ball. Intuitively, I would have guessed the density was around 2 g/cm^3, when in fact it is barely above 1 g/cm^3 -- about 1.15 for a 16-lb ball (the mass I was assuming). An ordinary chondrite of the same size would weigh close to 50 lbs! So yes, air friction is going to be a serious factor, and a bowling ball isn't going to have a chance of reaching the terminal velocity of a chondrite (let alone that of an iron). To do this experiment properly, then, they're going to need to drop an object of the proper density. --Rob ------_=_NextPart_001_01C400BD.9FDA19CA Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=507101001-03032004>Hi Doug,</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=507101001-03032004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=507101001-03032004>Good point on the density of a bowling ball. Intuitively, I would have guessed</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=507101001-03032004>the density was around 2 g/cm^3, when in fact it is barely above 1 g/cm^3 --</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=507101001-03032004>about </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=507101001-03032004>1.15 for a 16-lb ball (the mass I was assuming). An ordinary chondrite</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=507101001-03032004>of </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=507101001-03032004>the same size would weigh close to 50 lbs! So yes, air friction is going to</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=507101001-03032004>be a serious factor, and a bowling ball isn't going to have a chance of reaching</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=507101001-03032004>the terminal velocity of a chondrite (let alone that of an iron).</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=507101001-03032004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=507101001-03032004>To do this experiment properly, then, they're going to need to drop an object</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=507101001-03032004>of the proper density. --Rob</SPAN></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML> ------_=_NextPart_001_01C400BD.9FDA19CA-- Received on Tue 02 Mar 2004 08:19:50 PM PST |
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