Question
Barringer Meteor Crater
About 50,000 years ago, a fireball streaked across the sky over what is now the southwestern United States. The fireball fell to Earth. With a mighty crash, the meteorite slammed into the Earth’s surface near where Winslow, Arizona stands today. The crater that formed during the impact is still visible and is called the Barringer Meteor Crater. This crater is about 1.2 km in diameter and 170 m deep.
When a meteorite strikes a surface, the debris blasted out of the crater is called ejecta. Newton’s third law explains why this happens. When a meteorite strikes Earth, the kinetic energy in the meteorite is transferred to Earth. Newton’s third law states that the force exerted by the first object on the second object is equal in strength to the force that the second object exerts on the first, but in the opposite direction. One way scientists quantify the energy from the impact is to measure the distance between the crater and the matter that was thrown or ejected. The Barringer Meteor Crater has a ring of ejecta about 3.2 km in diameter.The Chicxulub Impact Crater was caused by a meteorite that struck Earth about 65 million years ago. The image shows the location of this crater.
The Chicxulub Impact Crater is located on the coast of Mexico. The ring of ejecta around the crater is 180 kilometers.
Why would scientists think that the Chicxulub Impact Crater was caused by a much larger meteorite than the Barringer Meteor Crater?
A.
Larger meteorites produce less force on impact than smaller meteorites, resulting in smaller craters.
B.
Larger meteorites produce less force on impact than smaller meteorites, resulting in larger craters.
C.
Larger meteorites produce more force on impact than smaller meteorites, resulting in larger craters.
D.
Larger meteorites produce more force on impact than smaller meteorites, resulting in smaller craters.
About 50,000 years ago, a fireball streaked across the sky over what is now the southwestern United States. The fireball fell to Earth. With a mighty crash, the meteorite slammed into the Earth’s surface near where Winslow, Arizona stands today. The crater that formed during the impact is still visible and is called the Barringer Meteor Crater. This crater is about 1.2 km in diameter and 170 m deep.
When a meteorite strikes a surface, the debris blasted out of the crater is called ejecta. Newton’s third law explains why this happens. When a meteorite strikes Earth, the kinetic energy in the meteorite is transferred to Earth. Newton’s third law states that the force exerted by the first object on the second object is equal in strength to the force that the second object exerts on the first, but in the opposite direction. One way scientists quantify the energy from the impact is to measure the distance between the crater and the matter that was thrown or ejected. The Barringer Meteor Crater has a ring of ejecta about 3.2 km in diameter.The Chicxulub Impact Crater was caused by a meteorite that struck Earth about 65 million years ago. The image shows the location of this crater.
The Chicxulub Impact Crater is located on the coast of Mexico. The ring of ejecta around the crater is 180 kilometers.
Why would scientists think that the Chicxulub Impact Crater was caused by a much larger meteorite than the Barringer Meteor Crater?
A.
Larger meteorites produce less force on impact than smaller meteorites, resulting in smaller craters.
B.
Larger meteorites produce less force on impact than smaller meteorites, resulting in larger craters.
C.
Larger meteorites produce more force on impact than smaller meteorites, resulting in larger craters.
D.
Larger meteorites produce more force on impact than smaller meteorites, resulting in smaller craters.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The correct answer is:
C. Larger meteorites produce more force on impact than smaller meteorites, resulting in larger craters.
This option is accurate because a larger meteorite has more mass and, therefore, more kinetic energy when it strikes the Earth's surface. This greater energy results in a larger crater and a wider ring of ejecta. The significant differences in the size of the ejecta rings around the Barringer Meteor Crater and the Chicxulub Impact Crater suggest that the Chicxulub impactor was much larger.
C. Larger meteorites produce more force on impact than smaller meteorites, resulting in larger craters.
This option is accurate because a larger meteorite has more mass and, therefore, more kinetic energy when it strikes the Earth's surface. This greater energy results in a larger crater and a wider ring of ejecta. The significant differences in the size of the ejecta rings around the Barringer Meteor Crater and the Chicxulub Impact Crater suggest that the Chicxulub impactor was much larger.