In this activity we will be using a specially written web application called the Impact Calculator. This has been written by the Faulkes Telescope team. You will need to have Flash Player 9 (or higher) installed for it to run in your web browser (you will be directed to download the necessary plugin, if it is not installed).
After selecting the language you want to use click start. You will be presented with a choice of 6 parameters you need to set before you can simulate an impact. These are the size of the projectile, the composition of the projectile, its velocity and angle of impact, the distance you are from the crash site and the composition of the land. Once you have chosen your parameters, click submit and you can place your impact crater at various locations around the World and find out how much damage you have done.
Making Impact Craters
Now we are going to see if we can reproduce the real impact craters we see on Earth. Use the data listed below to calculate the effects of each event. These values are estimates based on the real scientific investigations of these known impact craters on the Earth. Set your distance from impact as 500km so that you are not destroyed by the larger impact events!
Barringer Meteor Crater, USA
Projectile Diameter: 100 m
Projectile Density: Iron
Impact Velocity: 20 km/s
Impact Angle: 45º
Target Density: Sedimentary rock
Ries Crater, Germany
Projectile Diameter: 1500 m
Projectile Density: rock (2700 kg/m3)
Impact Velocity: 20 km/s
Impact Angle: 30º
Target Density: Sedimentary rock
Chesapeake Bay, USA
Projectile Diameter: 3500 m
Projectile Density: rock (2700 kg/m3)
Impact Velocity: 20 km/s
Impact Angle: 45º
Target Density: Sedimentary rock
Record your results in a Table like the one below:
| Crater Name |
Impact Energy
|
Crater Depth
|
Crater Diameter
|
Other Effects
|
| Barringer |
|
|
|
|
| Reis |
|
|
|
|
| Chesapeake |
|
|
|
|
Filling in the Gaps
Below are three real craters on the Earth. Try different values for the impact parameters to recreate these craters. Can you match these?
Tenoumer crater - Mauritania, Africa
Projectile diameter: ?
Angle of trajectory: 45º
Object velocity: 20km/s
Projectile density: ?
Target density: Sedimentary rock
Crater diameter: 1.8 km
Clearwater lakes - Canada
Projectile diameter: ?
Angle of trajectory: 45º
Object velocity: 20km/s
Projectile density: ?
Target density: ?
Crater diameter: 30 km
Chicxulub - Mexico
Projectile diameter: ?
Angle of trajectory: ?
Object velocity: ?
Projectile density: ?
Target density: ?
Crater diameter: 110 km
