Near miss

[BackInTex]

Asteroid '20 times closer than the Moon' just misses Earth

My question is how is something 20 times closer? Or twice as close?

NASA announced that an asteroid crossed 20 times closer to the Earth than the moon last week.

The 10-foot asteroid flashed across the sky at just 9,000 miles over the planet on March 2.

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The asteroid, which has since been designated 2017 EA, was closest to the Earth at 9:04 a.m. above the Pacific Ocean.

NASA says astronomers only detected the asteroid just 6 hours before it passed.

The good news is that NASA believes the object will not pass Earth for at least 100 more years.

[silverscreenselect]

Serious question: How much damage would a 10-foot asteroid cause if it did hit the earth, and how large would it be when it eventually got through the atmosphere?

[BackInTex]

Serious question: How much damage would a 10-foot asteroid cause if it did hit the earth, and how large would it be when it eventually got through the atmosphere?

And if it hit Washington, D.C., how much good would it do? (not a serious question, well, sort of).

[BackInTex]

The Tunguska event that leveled 770 sq miles of forest was estimated to be 200 to 600 feet in length. It disintegrated in the atmosphere before impact so I'd assume one that is 1/20th the size would as well, and probably not cause more than a loud bang.

[lilclyde54]

Asteroid '20 times closer than the Moon' just misses Earth

My question is how is something 20 times closer? Or twice as close?

NASA solving 'space poop' problem

I wonder if Howard Wollowitz was involved this solving this problem.

[littlebeast13]

10 foot asteroids!?!? Man, that's a lot of Preparation H....

lb13

[TheConfessor]

My question is how is something 20 times closer? Or twice as close?

This common phrasing has always been one of my pet peeves. You'll often hear news stories describing something as "5 times smaller than a human hair," or some such description. Seems to me if it's 50% smaller, it's half as big. If it's 1 time smaller, it no longer exists. So if it's 5 times smaller, it must be lost in a sixth dimension or something.

[mrkelley23]

My question is how is something 20 times closer? Or twice as close?

This common phrasing has always been one of my pet peeves. You'll often hear news stories describing something as "5 times smaller than a human hair," or some such description. Seems to me if it's 50% smaller, it's half as big. If it's 1 time smaller, it no longer exists. So if it's 5 times smaller, it must be lost in a sixth dimension or something.

Never underestimate the ability (and desire!) of human beings to avoid fractions. Anecdotally, I can tell you that I will have a much higher "get" rate from my students if I use the x times closer form rather than the "1/x as far" form. That screws up the whole concept of the inverse square law, though, so I save it for individual tutoring situations.

[Spock]

Never underestimate the ability (and desire!) of human beings to avoid fractions. Anecdotally, I can tell you that I will have a much higher "get" rate from my students if I use the x times closer form rather than the "1/x as far" form. That screws up the whole concept of the inverse square law, though, so I save it for individual tutoring situations.

In your experience, what do humans hate worse. Fractions or exponents?

[mrkelley23]

Never underestimate the ability (and desire!) of human beings to avoid fractions. Anecdotally, I can tell you that I will have a much higher "get" rate from my students if I use the x times closer form rather than the "1/x as far" form. That screws up the whole concept of the inverse square law, though, so I save it for individual tutoring situations.

In your experience, what do humans hate worse. Fractions or exponents?

They hate fractions worse, but they understand exponents (especially negative ones!) even less.

[Bob Juch]

Never underestimate the ability (and desire!) of human beings to avoid fractions. Anecdotally, I can tell you that I will have a much higher "get" rate from my students if I use the x times closer form rather than the "1/x as far" form. That screws up the whole concept of the inverse square law, though, so I save it for individual tutoring situations.

In your experience, what do humans hate worse. Fractions or exponents?

They hate fractions worse, but they understand exponents (especially negative ones!) even less.

I read that a competitor tried selling a hamburger called the "third pounder" but it didn't sell well because people thought it was smaller than a "quarter pounder".

[Bob78164]

Never underestimate the ability (and desire!) of human beings to avoid fractions. Anecdotally, I can tell you that I will have a much higher "get" rate from my students if I use the x times closer form rather than the "1/x as far" form. That screws up the whole concept of the inverse square law, though, so I save it for individual tutoring situations.

In your experience, what do humans hate worse. Fractions or exponents?

They hate fractions worse, but they understand exponents (especially negative ones!) even less.

For the worst of both worlds, try fractional exponents. --Bob

[Bob Juch]

In your experience, what do humans hate worse. Fractions or exponents?

They hate fractions worse, but they understand exponents (especially negative ones!) even less.

For the worst of both worlds, try fractional exponents. --Bob

My 12 year old stepdaughter is having fun with those right now.