Astronomers estimate that a 2
-
km wide asteroid collides with the earth once every million years. the
collision could pose a threat to life on earth. (a) assume a spherical asteroid has a mass of 3200 kg
for
each cubic meter of volume and moves toward the earth at 15 km/s. how much destructive energy
could be released when it embeds itself in the earth? (b) for comparison, a nuclear bomb could release
about
. how many such bombs would have to
explode simultaneously to release the
destructive energy of the asteroid collision with earth?