Question

The first asteroid to be discovered is Ceres. It is the largest and most massive asteroid in our solar system’s asteroid belt, having an estimated mass of 3.0 x 10^21 kg and an orbital speed of 17900 m/s. Determine the amount of kinetic energy possessed by Ceres.

Answer 1

Answer:

$4.81*10^{29}J$

Explanation:

Since the formula for kinetic energy of an object is:

$E_k = \frac{mv^2}{2}$

Where m is the mass of the object and v is the speed. We can substitute m = $3*10^{21}$kg and v = 17900m/s:

$E_k = \frac{3*10^{21} * (17900)^2}{2} = 4.81*10^{29}J$