A 0.1134kg spherical meteor of diameter 3 cm enters the earth’s atmosphere at an elevation of 121920m with a velocity of 13411.2 m/s. The meteor’s temperature is -73.15˚C. The specific heat at constant volume (Cv) of the meteor is 800 J/kg˚C.
(a) If the meteor has a temperature of 500˚C just before it hits the earth’s surface, what
would its velocity be? Assume that there is no heat transfer to or from the atmosphere
and no work done on or by the atmosphere (due to air drag) on the meteor.
(b) If instead you assumed that the meteor experienced air drag, what would its terminal velocity be in the lower atmosphere? [Thermal conductivity of air = 0.026 W/m˚C]
(c) If just above the earth’s surface the meteor had the terminal velocity determined in part (b) and had a temperature of 25˚C, how much work was done on or by the atmosphere? Is the work positive or negative? Again assume no heat transfer to or from the atmosphere.