Original Description:
Duck!
What will happen if a meteor the size of a city approaches our planet Earth?
Find out in this activity!
Control the size of a meteor travelling towards Earth. Control the distance of the meteor from Earth. Control the meteor's angle of approach. Then see what happens!
How to play
Click the ? button to find out about this activity, then...
Select the size of the meteor.
Slide the meteor along the white line to select its distance from Earth.
Select the angle of approach (from -45° to 45°) to Earth.
Then click the Go button to see what happens!
Try these selections
What happens if a meteor the size of a small coin and 100 km from Earth travels at an angle of 0°?
What happens if the meteor is the size of a car, the same distance (100 km) from Earth and travelling at the same angle (0°).
Explore as many combinations as you can!
Think about it
This simulation shows what could happen to a meteor heading towards the Earth. You can select meteors the size of a city, a car, a golf ball or a small coin. When a meteor falls towards the Earth along a particular path, the Earth's gravity causes it to fall at the same rate, regardless of its size. However, different sized meteors will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere (due to friction with air particles) at different rates. Smaller meteors (the size of a small coin) are more likely to break up quickly and are less likely to collide with the Earth... it depends on how much air they travel through.