See National Math and Science Standards for this Challenge.
Q: How much energy will be produced when the impactor hits Tempel 1?
In order to reduce costs, the Mission Team decided to go with a
slightly smaller launch rocket. That meant that they had to reduce the
overall mass of the flight system.
One of the places where they were able to reduce mass was on the
impactor. The mass of the impactor was changed from 500kg to 350 kg. The
scientists were concerned though because this means that the amount of
energy produced at impact will be reduced as well. Help us figure out
how much energy is produced at impact with the 350 kg impactor!
Update: In the spring of 2002, the mass of the impactor was increased from 350kg to
370 kg. How will the extra 20 kilos affect the amount of energy produced?
Hints:
Mass of the impactor: m = 370 kg
Velocity of the impactor: v = 10.2 km/s
Click here for the answer...
