[meteorite-list] Impact Duration Time
From: Robert Woolard <meteoritefinder_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:40:07 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <576284.95977.qm_at_web38914.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Hello List, Would any members be able to help with a question I have regarding the "impact-duration-time" (???) of some typical falls? I don't know if that's the best terminology to use, but what I mean is: What would be a "typical" measure of time between the impact of the FIRST (known) individual at the start of the strewnfield, and the fall of the LAST (known) individual? I can't remember ever having read of any instances where these times were actually determined. I know the odds for accurate recordings of both of these times would be very slim, but does anyone know IF they have ever been recorded for a fall(s)? Also, is it a relatively simple matter of getting a VERY rough ESTIMATE of the spread of time by simply dividing the length of the strewnfield by a max free fall speed of ~ 200mph??? I know that the angle of entry, the wind speed, the density of the meteorite, etc., would all affect the results, and the answer from such a simple equation would truly give ONLY an estimate if I'm right. But WOULD this give an approximate duration time?? For instance, if a strewnfield is ~ 7 miles long, would it be fairly accurate to say that meteorites were impacting over about a 2 minute spread of time during the fall? And if the strewnfield was ~20 miles long, impacts may have occurred over ~ 6 minutes? (7 miles/200mph = 0.035 hours,or = ~2.1 minutes) (20 miles/200mph =0.1 hours, or = ~ 6 minutes) Finally, IF all the above is even halfway accurate, could one safely say that during a "typical" fall, meteorites are impacting down the length of the strewnfield for approximately 1 to 5 minutes? Or am I way off base? If this is right, I never thought about the concept of meteorites hitting the ground for 5 solid minutes (or more!) during a fall. That puts thing in a different perspective, to me at least. Thanks, Robert Woolard ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs Received on Wed 19 Mar 2008 10:40:07 AM PDT |
StumbleUpon del.icio.us Yahoo MyWeb |