Question

It has been suggested, and not facetiously, that life might have originated on Mars and been carried to Earth when a meteor hit Mars and blasted pieces of rock (perhaps containing primitive life) free of the surface. Astronomers know that many Martian rocks have come to Earth this way. One objection to this idea is that microbes would have to undergo an enormous, lethal acceleration during the impact. Let us investigate how large such an acceleration might be. To escape Mars, rock fragments would have to reach its escape velocity of 5.0 km/s, and this would most likely happen over a distance of about 4.0m during the impact.

What would be the acceleration, in m/s, of such a rock fragment?

Answer 1

`a=3125000 m/s^2\\a=3.125*10^6 m/s^2`

Acceleration, in m/s, of such a rock fragment =
`3.125*10^6m/s^2`

Step-by-step explanation:

According to Newton's Third Equation of motion

`V_f^2-V_i^2=2as`

Where:

`V_f` is the final velocity

`V_i` is the initial velocity

a is the acceleration

s is the distance

In our case:

`V_f=V_(escape), V_i=0,s=4 m`

So Equation will become:

`V_(escape)^2-V_i^2=2as\\V_(escape)^2-0=2as\\V_(escape)^2=2as\\a=(V_(escape)^2)/(2s)\\a=((5*10^3m)^2)/(2*4)\\a=3125000 m/s^2\\a=3.125*10^6 m/s^2`

Acceleration, in m/s, of such a rock fragment =
`3.125*10^6m/s^2`