Meteorite?

[Twizeguy]

How big would a meteorite have to be to cause equal amount of damage as the nuclear bomb that was dropped on hiroshima?

[csmyth3025]

How big would a meteorite have to be to cause equal amount of damage as the nuclear bomb that was dropped on hiroshima?

Asteroids with diameters of 5 to 10 m (16 to 33 ft) enter the Earth's atmosphere approximately once per year, with as much energy as Little Boy, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, approximately 15 kilotonnes of TNT. These ordinarily explode in the upper atmosphere, and most or all of the solids are vaporized. Objects with diameters over 50 m (164 ft) strike the Earth approximately once every thousand years, producing explosions comparable to the one known to have detonated above Tunguska in 1908 (note added: 10–15 megatons of TNT)

(ref. http://en.wikipedia....and_frequencies )

 

Chris

 

Edited to extend quoted text.

Edited June 3, 2011 by csmyth3025

[Twizeguy]

So what your saying is that the meteorite size it would take to cause that damage would be burned up in the atmosphere before it reached the surface? What is the basis for that answer?, if that is in fact what you are saying.

 

(ref. http://en.wikipedia....and_frequencies )

 

Chris

 

Edited to add second sentence to quote

 

Thank you very much i checked the reference and i see the light!

[csmyth3025]

So what your saying is that the meteorite size it would take to cause that damage would be burned up in the atmosphere before it reached the surface? What is the basis for that answer?, if that is in fact what you are saying.

 

 

 

Thank you very much i checked the reference and i see the light!

I extended the quoted text before I noticed your reply. Whether a meteor blows up in the atmosphere or hits the ground (thus becoming a meteorite) depends on both how big it is and also what it's made of.

 

Chris

[Airbrush]

How big would a meteorite have to be to cause equal amount of damage as the nuclear bomb that was dropped on hiroshima?

 

An object 16 to 32 feet in diameter, as you note, will create an explosion of the Hiroshima A-bomb, but in the upper atmosphere. It might go unnoticed, or thought to be lightning and thunder. If it was solid iron it might not explode in the upper atmosphere, but it might survive to make an impact on land or sea.

 

My question is how large of an iron, or other solid metal meteor, will it take to cause Hiroshima-like damage to a city?

 

My guess is look up "Meteor Crator Arizona" and find out how large it was, then calculate based on that how large an iron meteor it would cause Hiroshima damage to a city.

 

Here's what I found on wikipedia. Meteor Crator Arizona was nickel-iron 50 meters in diameter, 162 feet across, creating an explosion of 10 megatons of TNT. One half of its' 300,000 ton mass was vaporized on the way down, so 150,000 tons impacted.

 

If Hiroshima was 0.15 megatons, then the metal meteor needs to be how many meters across? I calculated 0.75 meters, using directly proportional which cannot be true. Something is squared or cubed. Anyone know how to calculate this? If Meteor Crator AZ was 50 meters diameter and 10 megatons, then how large a metal meteor will cause a 0.15 megaton blast? Remember that half its' mass will burn up in the atmosphere.

Edited June 3, 2011 by Airbrush