Physics (5th Edition)
Physics (5th Edition)
5th Edition
ISBN: 9780321976444
Author: James S. Walker
Publisher: PEARSON
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Chapter 12, Problem 93PP

If life exists elsewhere in our solar system, it may not have developed independently from life on Earth. Instead, it’s possible that microbes from Earth may have colonized other planets or moons by hitching a ride on a rock blasted from Earth’s surface by a meteor impact. If the impact gives the rock enough energy to escape into space (while at the same time not raising its temperature so high as to “cook” the microbes), the rock may eventually reach another body in the solar system. In fact, rocks from Mars are known to have reached Earth in just this way, although none are currently known to have contained microbes. Computer modeling can be used to estimate the probability that a rock ejected from the surface of the Earth with a speed greater than the escape speed will reach another planet. These computer models indicate that under the influence of gravitational fields from the other objects in the solar system, an ejected rock can take millions of years to travel from one planet to another. During this time any life “aboard” is continually exposed to the high radiation levels of space. Some researchers have calculated that a 3.0-m-diameter rock at a typical rock density of 3.0 g/cm3 is sufficient to shield some types of microbes from the hostile environment of space for several million years of travel.

The accompanying plot shows the residual speed of an ejected object—that is, the speed the object would have when infinitely far from the Earth—as a function of its speed at the surface of the Earth (its original ejection speed). By simulating the motion of rocks ejected from the Earth with a variety of speeds, researchers conclude that 0.03% of the rocks ejected such that they have a residual speed of 2.5 km/s will have reached Mars 2.0 million years later. Although this doesn’t seem like a high probability, there have been so many meteor impacts over the long history of the Earth that many ejected rocks must have reached Mars—though whether they carried microbes, and if they did, whether the microbes would have survived, are open questions.

Chapter 12, Problem 93PP, If life exists elsewhere in our solar system, it may not have developed independently from life on

93. • Would increasing the ejection speed from 12 km/s to 13 km/s change the residual speed by more than, less than, or the same amount as increasing the ejection speed from 15 km/s to 16 km/s?

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Chapter 12 Solutions

Physics (5th Edition)

Ch. 12 - When a communications satellite is placed in a...Ch. 12 - The Mass of Pluto On June 22, 1978, James Christy...Ch. 12 - Rockets are launched into space from Cape...Ch. 12 - One day in the future you may take a pleasure...Ch. 12 - Apollo astronauts orbiting the Moon at low...Ch. 12 - Prob. 10CQCh. 12 - The force exerted by the Sun on the Moon is more...Ch. 12 - Prob. 12CQCh. 12 - System A has masses m and m separated by a...Ch. 12 - A 6.3-kg bowling ball and a 7.1-kg bowling ball...Ch. 12 - A communications satellite with a mass of 520 kg...Ch. 12 - The Attraction of Ceres Ceres, the largest...Ch. 12 - In one hand you hold a 0.13-kg apple, in the other...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate A spaceship of mass m travels...Ch. 12 - At new moon, the Earth, Moon, and Sun are in a...Ch. 12 - When the Earth, Moon, and Sun form a right...Ch. 12 - Repeat the previous problem, this time finding the...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate Three 7.25-kg masses are at the...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate Four masses are positioned at...Ch. 12 - Suppose that three astronomical objects (1, 2, and...Ch. 12 - Find the acceleration due to gravity on the...Ch. 12 - At what altitude above the Earths surface is the...Ch. 12 - Two 6.4-kg bowling balls, each with a radius of...Ch. 12 - What is the acceleration due to Earths gravity at...Ch. 12 - Extrasolar Planet Gravity Kepler-62e is an...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate At a certain distance from the...Ch. 12 - The acceleration due to gravity on the Moons...Ch. 12 - Gravitational Tug of War At some point along the...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate An Extraterrestrial Volcano...Ch. 12 - Consider an asteroid with a radius of 19 km and a...Ch. 12 - Prob. 23PCECh. 12 - Predict/Explain The Earth-Moon Distance Is...Ch. 12 - Apollo Missions On Apollo missions to the Moon,...Ch. 12 - Prob. 26PCECh. 12 - An Extrasolar Planet In July of 1999 a planet was...Ch. 12 - Phobos, one of the moons of Mars, orbits at a...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate An Asteroid with Its Own Moon...Ch. 12 - GPS Satellites GPS (Global Positioning System)...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate Two satellites orbit the Earth,...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate Satellite A has a mass of 1000...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate The Martian moon Deimos has an...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate (a) Calculate the orbital period...Ch. 12 - Binary Stars Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B...Ch. 12 - Prob. 36PCECh. 12 - How much gravitational potential energy is...Ch. 12 - Predict/Explain (a) Is the amount of energy...Ch. 12 - Prob. 39PCECh. 12 - Calculate the gravitational potential energy of a...Ch. 12 - Prob. 41PCECh. 12 - Two 0.59-kg basketballs, each with a radius of 12...Ch. 12 - Find the minimum kinetic energy needed for a...Ch. 12 - Predict/Explain Suppose the Earth were to suddenly...Ch. 12 - Prob. 45PCECh. 12 - Prob. 46PCECh. 12 - Meteorites from Mars Several meteorites found in...Ch. 12 - What is the launch speed of a projectile that...Ch. 12 - A projectile launched vertically from the surface...Ch. 12 - Prob. 50PCECh. 12 - Predict/Calculate Halleys Comet Halleys comet,...Ch. 12 - The End of the Lunar Module On Apollo Moon...Ch. 12 - Prob. 53PCECh. 12 - Prob. 54PCECh. 12 - A projectile is launched vertically from the...Ch. 12 - Prob. 56PCECh. 12 - Predict/Calculate Two baseballs, each with a mass...Ch. 12 - On Earth, a person can jump vertically and rise to...Ch. 12 - The magnitude of the tidal force exerted on a...Ch. 12 - The magnitude of the tidal force between the...Ch. 12 - A dumbbell has a mass m on either end of a rod of...Ch. 12 - Prob. 62PCECh. 12 - CE You weigh yourself on a scale inside an...Ch. 12 - Figure 12-37 Problems 64 and 65 64. CE Rank...Ch. 12 - CE Referring to Figure 12-37, rank objects A, B,...Ch. 12 - CE The Crash of Skylab Skylab, the largest...Ch. 12 - Consider a system consisting of three masses on...Ch. 12 - An astronaut exploring a distant solar system...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate When the Moon is in its...Ch. 12 - Prob. 70GPCh. 12 - Suppose that each of the three masses in Figure...Ch. 12 - A Near Miss! In the early morning hours of June...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate Suppose a planet is discovered...Ch. 12 - Prob. 74GPCh. 12 - Walking into Orbit A spherical asteroid of average...Ch. 12 - Prob. 76GPCh. 12 - Find the orbital period of the binary star system...Ch. 12 - Exploring Mars In the not-too-distant future...Ch. 12 - Comet Wild 2 In 2004, a NASA spacecraft named...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate (a) If you want to launch a...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate A satellite is placed in Earth...Ch. 12 - Show that the force of gravity between the Moon...Ch. 12 - The astronomical unit AU is defined as the mean...Ch. 12 - Prob. 84GPCh. 12 - Predict/Calculate Space Station Orbit The...Ch. 12 - Approaching the ISS A Russian Soyuz module, with...Ch. 12 - Prob. 87GPCh. 12 - Prob. 88GPCh. 12 - Three identical stars, at the vertices of an...Ch. 12 - Prob. 90GPCh. 12 - If life exists elsewhere in our solar system, it...Ch. 12 - If life exists elsewhere in our solar system, it...Ch. 12 - If life exists elsewhere in our solar system, it...Ch. 12 - If life exists elsewhere in our solar system, it...Ch. 12 - If life exists elsewhere in our solar system, it...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate Referring to Example 12-8...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate Referring to Example 12-17 (a)...Ch. 12 - Predict/Calculate Referring to Example 12-17...
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