A meteor that falls to earth from a great distance has a speed of 11km/s. In cla
ID: 2270014 • Letter: A
Question
A meteor that falls to earth from a great distance has a speed of 11km/s. In class we found that the temperature of an iron meteor is 290,000K. We assumed all of the energy heats the meteor, and none of it is transferred to the surroundings.
a.If the meteor is made of water, what is the speed of the meteor? Explain.
b. If the meteor is made of water and the same assumptions hold, what is the temperature of the meteor? Explain.
c. Does the composition of the meteor make a big difference in the temperature? Explain.
d.Derive an equation for the temperature of the meteor and the composition. What parameter should you use for the composition? Why is this parameter sensible?
e.What main ideas from question 1 were needed to do parts (a) and (b)?
Explanation / Answer
The velocity of the meteor made up of Water remains same becuase it does not fepend upon the material .
Specific Heat of Iron = 0.46 KJ/KgK
Specific Heat of Water = 4.2 KJ/KgK
Therefore
Required Temperature = (290000)*(4.2/0.46)
= 2647826.087 K
Yes it makes a Difference because the specific heat of the different materials are Different.
Here Kinetic Energy of the meteor is Converted into the Heat Energy due to Rise in Temperature