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13 votes
A 56 kg meteor enters the atmosphere with a whopping46,000,000 Joules of Potential Energy. What height does it enterour atmosphere?

User Stefan Van Den Akker
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1 Answer

19 votes
19 votes

Given:

Mass (m) = 56 kg

Potential Energy (PE) = 46000000 Joules

Let's find the height the meteor enters our atmosphere.

To find the height, apply the Potential Energy formula below:


PE=m\ast g\ast h

Since we are to find the height(h), rewrite the equation for h:


h=(PE)/(m\ast g)

Where:

g is the acceleration due to gravity = 9.8 m/s^2

Input values into the equation:


\begin{gathered} h=(46000000)/(56\ast9.8) \\ \\ h=(46000000)/(548.8) \\ \\ h=83819.24\text{ m} \end{gathered}

Therefore, the height it enters our atmosphere is 83819.24 meters

ANSWER:

83819.2 m

User Er Sushil
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2.8k points