Meteorites
What is the primary difference between a meteor, meteoroid, and meteorite?
A meteoroid is in space, a meteor is in the atmosphere, and a meteorite is on the ground.
What is the formula for calculating the force of gravity between two objects?
F = G * (m₁ * m₂) / r² (where G is the gravitational constant, m₁ and m₂ are the masses, and r is the distance between the centers of the two masses).
What shape are most planetary orbits in our solar system?
Elliptical.
What is the name of the meteorite that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago?
The Chicxulub meteorite.
What is the name of the largest volcano in the solar system and where is it located?
Olympus Mons on Mars.
What are meteorites primarily made of?
Meteorites are primarily composed of rock, metal, or a combination of both.
Who formulated the Law of Universal Gravitation?
Sir Isaac Newton.
What is the term for the path that a celestial body follows as it moves around another body due to gravity?
Orbit.
Which meteorite fell in 1492 near Ensisheim, France, and is one of the oldest recorded meteorite falls in Europe?
The Ensisheim meteorite.
What is the most massive planet in our solar system?
Jupiter.
Where can the largest impact crater on Earth be found?
The Vredefort crater in South Africa.
How does gravity affect the motion of celestial bodies?
Gravity keeps celestial bodies in orbit around larger bodies, like planets around the Sun.
What is escape velocity?
The minimum velocity needed for an object to escape the gravitational pull of a celestial body.
What is the name of the largest meteorite ever found on Earth, located in Namibia?
The Hoba meteorite.
What are the small, icy bodies that originate from the Kuiper Belt called?
Comets.
What causes a meteoroid to become a meteor?
When a meteoroid enters Earth's atmosphere and produces a streak of light.
What is the acceleration due to gravity on Earth's surface?
Approximately 9.8 m/s².
What is a geostationary orbit?
An orbit where a satellite remains fixed over one point on the Earth's surface.
Which meteorite exploded over Russia in 2013, causing significant damage and injuries?
The Chelyabinsk meteorite.
What is a light-year?
The distance that light travels in one year.
What famous event in 1908 involved a large meteoroid entering Earth's atmosphere and exploding over Russia?
The Tunguska event.
How does the gravitational force between two objects change if the distance between them is halved?
The gravitational force increases by a factor of four (inverse square law).
What causes a satellite in orbit to stay in a constant state of free fall?
The balance between its forward velocity and the gravitational pull of the Earth.
What is the name of the iron meteorite found in Antarctica that has been used to study the history of our solar system?
The Allan Hills 84001 meteorite.
Which planet has the most extensive ring system in our solar system?
Saturn.