why are all visible craters...Round??? No skip marks,such as a stone on a pond!weak gravity pull to center?

Question

This suggests that all impacts occur at right angles to the surface, which is clearly not the case (or is it, and why?) In the vaccum of space where every action has an equal and opposite reaction, wouldn't acute or obtuse impacts produce a plethera of crater formations

Answer 1

Thanks for asking this question...in the course of researching the answer, I learned quite a bit myself...I had thought that impact craters were not all round, but I was wrong.

Most impacts are from objects moving at such a high relative velocity (relative to the object being hit) that they (the impacting objects) will mostly vaporize upon impact (hence no skipping). Regardless of the angle of impact, the material being hit, or many other factors, if the velocity of the impact is high enough, the resulting crater will always be roundish. The reason is that the crater isn't formed so much by the impact as it is by the shock wave that results from the impact. Check out the site below for a graphic representation of what I'm talking about.

Answer 2

I saw a television program recently that did show some skipping impacts from meteors. I don't remember the name of the show or the channel it was on, sorry. It was probably the discovery channel, but I can't say for sure.

The point of the program was that the evidence of skipping impacts had been overlooked in many cases.

Still, the atmosphere slows objects down a lot. As they slow down, the angle of descent will become steeper and steeper.

Answer 3

Because the objects which create the craters are usually round in shape...tom science

Answer 4

Nice try hon, even a square meteor leaves a round hole.

The speed is so great that the meteor disintegrates on impact.

Answer 5

hmmm.. some craters are teardrop shaped... because the meteor came in at an angle.

Answer 6

have u ever heard of square meteors ??!! ....

if a meteor crashes on the earth ....and if its not basically a square .....then shouldn't the craters be roundish ???