What would happen if a 1-inch-wide asteroid hit Antarctica at the speed of light?

Question

... I can't sleep until I find the answer. 8-)

Answer 1

Well, mathematics won't help you here, as the point was made - nothing can travel the speed of light, save for photons. The reason is that to accelerate the mass of such an object (any object with mass) to the speed of light would require an infinite amount of energy. We have been able to accelerate protons to 99.999% the speed of light, but not to the speed of light itself. That's, well, impossible, according to Einsteinean physics.

But, that answer sucks and it's probably not what you're looking for. Asking a question like this makes me feel that you're asking about world-shattering destruction and mayhem - so that's what we'll give you. :-)

Suppose we had a lump of rock hurtling toward the Earth at just under the speed of light. This is an incredibly, incredibly fast speed (as you undoubtedly know). The consequences of such an impact could be (loosely) compared to a gunshot. The small, one-inch rock would pierce the atmosphere, creating a shockwave that would blast the atmosphere we have off the planet and out into space. At the same time, the friction from such a blast would most likely cause such a tremendous heat that it would incinerate the face of the Earth and everything upon its forsaken surface. Oceans would flash-boil, throwing up tremendous amounts of steam that would, likewise, be blown into space with what was left of our atmosphere (as much of our oxygen would be used up in combustion of organic materials).

The force from such an impact upon the surface of the Earth would be instantly catastrophic. Shock waves would rend earth and stone, immediately melting the crust - the back half of the planet would most likely explode outward in a titanic burst of energy. The Earth might split, with what was left of two halves hurtling into space along with the rest of the planet's debris, or the force would utterly disinitegrate the entire planet in a shower of molten rock and debris. In an instant, a green and blue orb spinning complacently in the void of space would be vaporized, reduced to molten globs of rock hurtling through space in all directions. An entire planet would be wiped out, and all the life that the ball of rock harbored would be mercilessly snuffed from existence in less than the blink of an eye.

4.6 billion years of evolution destroyed in an instant.

Yes, if something like this happened, it wouldn't be good.

Hope this answered your question! =)

Answer 2

it might take magic for any textile situation to pass on the cost of light. as quickly as you enable magic into attention, something can ensue. which contain my dogs Buzz eating the asteroid and saving the Earth. So shall we decide for ninety 9.ninety 9% of light speed, a minimum of that doesn't contain any magic. The asteroid might basically punch a hollow contained in the direction of the Earth. the hollow might without postpone top off with magma, in under an hour. the hearth ball might completely break issues for 1000 km around. yet interior the places a strategies from the two holes, the effect could be like a gentle earthquake. === definite, the asteroid has a multitude of ability. yet this ability does not be released interior the earth. The asteroid might basically punch top however the earth. it could be like a bullet going however tissue paper -- there's a hollow interior the paper, the yet something of the paper is infrequently affected in any respect.

Answer 3

The true answer is, If the asteroid hit antarctica when it was an inch, the earth would FREAKING BLOW UP. No lie. According to einsteinian relativity, the mass of an object moving extremely fast is related to original mass (divided by) (root(1-(v/c)). Therefore as v approaches c(the speed of light) the perceived mass of the asteriod would increase very quickly, and when v=very close to c, the mass would become infinite. Thats right, if a one inch meteor going the speed of light hit earth, it would be equivilant to something with INFINITE MASS hitting earth, and well, thatd just kill us all : )

Answer 4

It would be infinitely massive (following Einstein's SR), so it'd be a moot point.......the Earth would be swallowed by a very fast moving singularity, and so would everything else.

And anyhow, it'd take an infinite amount of energy to accelerate that asteroid to lightspeed, which also makes it a moot point.

Think about it....infinite mass. No matter how large the entire Universe is, it would be just as close to having no mass at all as the Earth does w.r.t. an infinitely massive object. It's a mathematically and practically preposterous answer and the reason why Einstein's SR is flawed. The same with infinite energy.

Answer 5

First of all, nothing with mass can ever travel at the speed of light....to do so would take an infinite amount of energy to achieve, and in the entire universe, there is not an infinite amount of energy.

Secondly, I it matters not what the dimensions of the asteroid are, it is the mass that matters (<-- unintentional play on words).
Unless we know the density of the asteroid material, knowing its volume doesn’t help much.
Also, when we are dealing with relativistic speeds (speeds close to the speed of light), measurements need to start having a specified point of reference. For "ordinary" speeds, you can sometimes get away without specifying the reference frame, but when dealing with light speed we need to know where exactly the length of "1-inch" was measured from.....the Earth, the asteroid itself, mars, ...? It does matter. Also, I can only assume you intended the asteroid to be traveling at [near] the speed of light with respect to Earth.

To those who suggested using the asteroids momentum of kinetic energy to determine the result of an impact,
Remember, momentum and kinetic energy are so nice when we are dealing with relativistic speeds, they are no longer linear (or linear with the square) of the speed.

Momentum of an object as measured from the same reference frame as the speed is measured from of an object moving at relativistic speed (v) is given by,
p = gamma * m_0 * v

Kinetic energy [of ....] is given by,
KE = mc^2 - m_0 * c^2

Where gamma is the Lorentz factor, m_0 is the rest mass of the particle, m is the relativistic mass, and c is the speed of light in a vacuum.

You can see that at the speed of light, the objects momentum and kinetic energy go to infinity. If an object of infinite energy and infinite momentum were to collide with the Earth would be surely doomed…good thing it isn’t possible.

Answer 6

There would be a pillar of fire 5 meters wide through the path it was taking in the atmosphere. When it hit the ground it would form an sphere of annihilation in a radius of 0.6 miles where all mater would turn into ionized plasma, leave a 7.2 mile wide crater. As it traveled through the Earth it would cause a shock wave traveling from the impact site to the point of departure, and back again. This shock wave would cause as much damage as a 6.8 point earth quake everywhere at once. At it's departure, it would blast away a 3 mile an hour crater, which would be similar to the volcano at Yellowstone going off. As it exited the atmosphere it would pull 4.2x10^7 cube meter of atmosphereic gas into space.

Answer 7

c = 2.99792458 metres per second

You can't actually go at the speed of light, so I put the asteroid at 1 metre per second slower than the speed of light. That is not much!

inch diameter = 8.18 cubic centimetres (if spherical) in volume;

normal mass = 100 grams (say)

Then mass + e=mc^2
Equals
1224.34 kilograms

(Remember 1000 kg = 2240 pounds, so about 2750 pounds)

Kinetic energy = 1/2 * m * v^2
= 5.50 * 10^19 Joules

1 gram of ice at -15 degrees C will take 3040.5 Joules to boil.
Therefore the asteroid could boil 1.8089 * 10^16 grams, or 1.8 *10^10 tonnes

In other words, you could boil 18 billion tonnes of ice, or in other words IT WOULD BOIL ONE THOUSAND CUBIC KILOMETRES OF ICE.

That is a lot!

So it would mostly destroy the world. :)

What have you been watching on TV?

Answer 8

Of course no asteroid (...or anything else) can move at the speed of light. If your asteroid could move that fast it would have infinite mass, meaning all the mass in the universe. Plug that into e = m * c^2 and see what you come up with :)

Answer 9

Theoritically.....it gains a force of 0.01x(3x10^8) Newtons. where weight of 1 inch wide asteroid is assumed to be 10 grms. It may create a serious injury to the continent...(if it can really enter the earth's atmosphere as it is.....usually it turns into ash...)

:) in practice.....it doesnt happen....as light is highest form of energy. When an asteroid tries gaining the light velocity......it is no longer an asteroid.....it already turned Light! :).....Light with light's velocity.....i bet.....no harm! :)

Answer 10

well it depends if the asteroid made it into the atmospher at the mesurement of 1 inch travleing at the spped of light we would probly all die b/c of the fall out or all of antartica would become a giat crater but if it was 1 inch b4 entering eart it would burn up