Question

The first asteroid to be discovered is Ceres. It is the largest and most massive asteroid in our solar system’s asteroid belt, having an estimated mass of 3.0 x 10^21 kg and an orbital speed of 17900 m/s. Determine the amount of kinetic energy possessed by Ceres.

Answer 1

`4.81*10^(29)J`

Step-by-step explanation:

Since the formula for kinetic energy of an object is:

`E_k = (mv^2)/(2)`

Where m is the mass of the object and v is the speed. We can substitute m =
`3*10^(21)`kg and v = 17900m/s:

`E_k = (3*10^(21) * (17900)^2)/(2) = 4.81*10^(29)J`