Meteors. What is the total amount of mass delivered by meteors in an average hum
ID: 3281513 • Letter: M
Question
Meteors. What is the total amount of mass delivered by meteors in an average human lifetime? Assume an average person's lifetime is 80 years. Express your answer in units of billions of kg. (Hint: Meteors are small bits of rock and metal colliding with Earth's atmosphere and bursting into incandescent vapor because of friction with the air about 80 km (50 mi) above the ground. This vapor condenses to form dust that settles slowly to Earth, adding about 40,000 tons per year to the planet's mass.)
_________ billion kg.
Compare this mass to that of the Earth. Is this additional mass significant (that is, greater than a few percent)?
_________ .
.
Explanation / Answer
A) mass added = 40000tons per year * 80 years
= 4e7*80 kg
= 3.2e9 kg
= 3.2 billion kg answer
B) percentage of this mass of mass of earth= 3.2e9*100/6e24 %
= 5.33*10^-14 % of earth's mass.
No, it is not significant