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Near miss
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 3:06 pm
by 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.
Re: Near miss
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 3:22 pm
by 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?
Re: Near miss
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 3:24 pm
by BackInTex
silverscreenselect wrote: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).
Re: Near miss
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 3:26 pm
by 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.
Re: Near miss
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 6:59 pm
by lilclyde54
I wonder if Howard Wollowitz was involved this solving this problem.
Re: Near miss
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 9:05 pm
by littlebeast13
10 foot asteroids!?!? Man, that's a lot of Preparation H....
lb13
Re: Near miss
Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 2:42 am
by TheConfessor
BackInTex wrote:
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.
Re: Near miss
Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 7:46 am
by mrkelley23
TheConfessor wrote:BackInTex wrote:
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.
Re: Near miss
Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 12:15 pm
by Spock
mrkelley23 wrote:
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?
Re: Near miss
Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 12:39 pm
by mrkelley23
Spock wrote:mrkelley23 wrote:
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.
Re: Near miss
Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 1:25 pm
by Bob Juch
mrkelley23 wrote:Spock wrote:mrkelley23 wrote:
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".
Re: Near miss
Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 1:37 pm
by Bob78164
mrkelley23 wrote:Spock wrote:mrkelley23 wrote:
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
Re: Near miss
Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 2:11 pm
by Bob Juch
Bob78164 wrote:mrkelley23 wrote:Spock wrote:
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.