Question

Assume that the comet has a total mass of 4.2×1012 kilograms. what is its total kinetic energy? (hint: the kinetic energy is equal to 12mv2, where m is the comet's mass and v is its speed. if you use mass in kilograms and velocity in m/s, the answer for kinetic energy will have units of joules.)

Answer 1

Given data show that it contains total mass of 4.2Ă—1012 kilograms. Total kinetic energy(E) is calculated by: E = 1/2 * m * v^2 E = 1/2 * (4.2 x 10^12kg) * (3.3 x 10^4 m/s)^2 E = 1/2 * (4.2 x 10^12kg) * (1089 m^2/s^2) E = 2.29 x 10^21 kg m^2/s^2 = 2.29 x 10^21 J

Answer 2

Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust that orbit the Sun. When frozen, they are the size of a small town. When a comet's orbit brings it close to the Sun, it heats up and spews dust and gases into a giant glowing head larger than most planets.Comets are believed to have two sources. Long-period comets (those which take more than 200 years to complete an orbit around the Sun) originate from the Oort Cloud. Short-period comets (those which take less than 200 years to complete an orbit around the Sun) originate from the Kuiper Belt.