Question

the near miss of toutatis. the 5-kilometer asteroid toutatis passed a mere 1.5 million kilometers of earth. calculate the probability that this somewhere would have meant that it slammed into earth. based on your result, do you think it is fair to call the 2004 passage a near miss?

Answer 1

Probability = 0.004247

This will not classify as a "Near Miss) since it is a very low probability

Step-by-step explanation:

The solution for this question is based on the formula for probability.

`Probability = (e_(d) )/(e_(t) )`

Where

`e_(d)` = Desired outcome

`e_(t)` = Total outcomes

Since we know that the asteroid passed 1.5 million km of earth and the earth has a radius of is 6,371 km. We assume the asteroid has a trajectory that can only deviate in one direction (i.e. perpendicular to the earths surface) we input the following values into the formula

`e_(d)` = Desired outcome = 6,371 km

`e_(t)` = Total outcomes = 1,500,000 km

`Probability = (6,371 )/(1,500,000)\\ Probability = 0.004247`