One hazard of space travel is debris left by previous missions. There are several thousand masses large enough to detect by radar orbiting the earth, but there are far greater numbers of very small masses such as flakes of paint. Calculate the force exerted by a 0.100 mg chip of paint that strikes a space shuttle window at a relative speed of 3.00 ✕ 103 m/s and sticks, given the collision lasts 6.00 ✕ 10-8 s. Such a collision chipped the window of the ill-fated Challenger in June 1983, causing $50,000 of damage. N
+37084 In physics, this scenario describes IMPULSE ... F x t also known as the change in momentum...(final momentum = 0)
Momentum = m x v
= .1 mg x 1kg/1000mg x 3 x 10^3 m/s = .3 kg-m/s = .3 N-s
F x t = .3 n-s
F = .3 N-s / (6x 10^-8 s) = .05 x 10^8 N = 5 x 10^6 N BANG ! You just spent $ 50,000.
+37084 You know gov't jobs have to go out to bid and usually wind up with union work and waste....LOL
