Math in the News

This is the area hit by the meteorite. That’s what a meteor is called when it makes landfall.

On February 15, 2013, a meteor hit Chelyabinsk,Russia, injuring more than 1,000 people and damaging hundreds of homes and buildings. An event such as this one happens once every 100 years, according to NASA scientists.

Scientists have learned a great deal about this meteor. In this issue of Math in the News we take a look of their findings.

Math in the NewsMany Russians have webcams in their cars, so numerous videos were shot the day the meteor streaked across the sky. Click on the link below and watch one.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpVXmBiNmsY

Math in the NewsBased on data collected from infrasound stations worldwide, scientists now know the following:•The meteor was traveling at 40,000 miles per hour. But that’s nothing compared to the speed of light, which travels at 185,000 miles per second. How much faster does light travel?•But the meteor did travel faster than sound. Do some Internet research and determine how much faster the meteor was.

Math in the NewsBased on data collected from infrasound stations worldwide, scientists now know the following:•The meteor was 55 feet in diameter and had a mass of 10,000 tons.•In comparison, the International Space Station is 357 feet long. What fraction of the Space Station’s length was the meteor?•Estimate the length of your home. How much larger was the meteor?

Math in the NewsBased on data collected from infrasound stations worldwide, scientists now know the following:. •The meteor released 500 kilotons of energy, the force of 20 atomic bombs.•It took 32.5 seconds to explode after entering the atmosphere.•It was brighter than the sun for 30 seconds.•Find ways of comparing these statistics to other known measurements.

Math in the NewsWhat was the meteor’s path? By measuring the length and angle of the shadows on this image as the meteor streaked by, amateur astronomer Stefan Geens tried to figure that out. Click on the link and see what he learned.

http://ogleearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/gif-animation-small1.gif

Math in the News

Using his shadow data and information from Google Earth, he estimated the path as shown at left. When compared to an image of the meteor’s trajectory (right), he turned out to be pretty close.

Math in the NewsScientists think the meteorite landed in Lake Chebarkul in the Siberian wilderness. They are studying the debris it left behind to learn more about this unexpected visitor from space.