Would a bus dropped from space into a lake create a tidal wave or burn up in the atmosphere?

Question

Maybe at least the engine block would make it to earth as a fireball and what would be the splash size then? Would it create a big enough wave in a giant lake, like as big as the Great Salt Lake?

Answer 1

Yeah u r right about the engine I think!
The outer framework would literally burn out by the heat of friction.

Since its pointless to discuss without the initial height involved, I'm taking it equal to 460 km i.e. the max altitude of International Space station.
But the accleration due to gravity is not constant from that height to the surface. Still for simplification I'm taking it as approx 10m/s²

Take engine weight as 50 kg
Speed on impact = sqrt(g*s) = sqrt(460*10) = approx 70 m/s
Momentum = 3500 kg-m/s
Thats not much to cause a huge wave or ripple!

Answer 2

If you dropped it from space, it wouldn't go anywhere (its still in space). But if it fell to earth without burning up, it would not create a tidal wave. The extreme altitude would not affect the speed of the fall as the bus would reach its terminal velocity at some point and stop accelerating.

Answer 3

Anything that drops at the wrong angle into the earths atmosphere would burn up entirely if it was the size of a car. If it was a size of a huge rock some would burn up but it would still hit the earth. Cars are very small and would burn up completely. If the car was dropped from inside the atmosphere it would not burn up at all.

Answer 4

It would need to be much much larger than a bus to create a splash like that, since most of the bus will burn up in the air.

Try an aircraft carrier. That would make a big splash.

Answer 5

If this could relatively be executed, i think of the numbers could be something like this: a entire mass of roughly one hundred twenty billion pounds, unfold over a interior of sight approximately 12 miles by potential of 12 miles (assuming the anybody isn't stacked on real of one yet another). i could think of that this could create an considerable tsunami, yet no longer as super as a results of fact the 2004 tsunami in Asia, which provides one a feeling of how super the forces could desire to have been to generate that tsunami. yet it is purely my wager.

Answer 6

Hey, hey! There is a website that will let you answer the question by doing all of the calculations. You fill in the the parameters it asks for (and it makes a few suggestions to you) then you click and it describes the resultant impact including where the object actually makes it to the ground. A bus would correspond to an iron meter. You just have to supply the mass of the bus (iron meteor). Have a go, and post your answer back here.

http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/

Cool question, dude.

HTH

Charles

Answer 7

Logically the bus won't fall from space because things float in space due to no gravity but if it does somehow it will only create a huge water explosion like when a missile is dropped in water.

Answer 8

In most states, dropping a bus from space is illegal. It would be wise to check your local laws before doing this.

Answer 9

it will not fall down to Earth unless it enters the Earth's gravitational field . it also depends on which material the bus is made of.