At 8/19/06 09:09 PM, Slayder wrote:
That was most likely the best post of the thread... very informative actually.
Thanks! : )
At 8/19/06 09:15 PM, Dumbass_Rhapsody wrote:
I don't understand how it won't make a difference. A meteorite about the same size as a large nuke, hitting the earth at super-sonic speeds would make a big explosion.
Let's do some comparitive analysis.
Meteorite - "There a 4 kg stone chondrite [2] crashed through a roof and hit Ann Hodges in her living room after it bounced off her radio. She was badly bruised."
Source.
"The smallest possible bomb-like object would be a single critical mass of plutonium (or U-233) at maximum density under normal conditions. An unreflected spherical alpha-phase critical mass of Pu-239 weighs 10.5 kg and is 10.1 cm across.
A single critical mass cannot cause an explosion however since it does not cause fission multiplication, somewhat more than a critical mass is required for that. But it does not take much more than a single critical mass to cause significant explosions. As little an excess as 10% (1.1 critical masses) can produce explosions of 10-20 tons. This low yield seems trivial compared to weapons with yields in the kilotons or megatons, but it is actually far more dangerous than conventional explosives of equivalent yield due to the intense radiation emitted."
The damage from a 10.5 Kg weapon produces a fatal distribution of radiation within a diameter of 1 Km from it's burst point, with 10-20 tons of force being distributed in it's inmmediate area. Much like a blue whale falling on top of you.
Source
Most catastrophic explosions created by meteorites, are done so with meteors that can weigh several tens-of-millions of tons, which are able to withstand the rigor of re-entry. The common major craters that you may seen are caused by these multi-million ton meteorites. The lower ton range (1000+ kg) may be able to reach the surface, but is greatly eroded from it's travel. So, it would greater be vapourized, or do very minor damage. (Especially compared to a nuke)
Despite the large appearance of a full ICBM, the only part that decends upon re-entry is the very tip of the missile, which houses the warhead. The other parts are there to burst it into orbit, and into alignment with the target. The warhead itself may weigh 100 kg, 200 kg, 500 kg, sometimes higher. It's simply the plutonium or uranium, along with the detonating devices and other sensors.
Small example - "the W-47 RV on the U.S. Polaris A-1 SLBM (1961) weighs 408 kg and has a yield of 800- kilotons; the bomb itself weighs only 275 kg."
But if that meteorite was packed with explosives, as the nuke is, wouldnt it create a much larger explosion?
Yes. But you must be cautioned that conventional explosives and nuclear fission is very much different.
Have a look at the Halifax Explosion.
223 tonnes benzol
56 tonnes nitrocellulose
1602 tonnes wet picric acid
544 tonnes dry picric acid (highly explosive, and extremely sensitive to shock)
227 tonnes TNT
It carried massive stores of explosives - over 2500 tonnes. 2.5 square kilometers was levelled, and shockwaves carried it as far as 100 km. It produced a force of 2.9 kilotons. It was the largest explosion in the world before the A-bomb.
But, a 275 kg nuclear bomb, can produce 800 kilotons of destructive force.
Velocity would account for a miniscule part of the total damage, perhaps 0.000001% - as the explosion quickly sweeps any ground, any damage that it did occur. The sensors in the warhead indicate it to detonate as soon as it reaches a certain attitude, or when it reaches the ground, and then the fission process takes not even a portion of a second. It's like the nose of the warhead is a button, and once it's pressed, it explodes immediately. The process happens very quickly.
A nuclear weapon is not like a meteor.
Gawd, I wrote too much...