Fast pennies

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Sujet : Fast pennies
De : ram (at) *nospam* zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram)
Groupes : sci.physics.research
Date : 15. Jan 2024, 14:10:10
Autres entêtes
Organisation : Stefan Ram
Message-ID : <penny-20240115111329@ram.dialup.fu-berlin.de>
What would happen if a penny with a mass of 0.003 kg and a speed of

0.99999999999999999999999999999999999999 c

  from outer space would hit the earth (being directed at its center)?


[[Mod. note --
There are 38 9's in that speed, i.e., the speed is (1 - 1e-38)*c.
That implies a Lorentz gamma factor of (1 - v^2/c^2)^(-1/2) = 7e18,
so the penny's total relativistic energy is gamma*m*c^2 = 2e33 Joules.
That's rather a lot of energy. :)  In fact, it's about 8 times the
Earth's gravitational binding energy (2.5e32 Joules according to the
all-knowing Wikipedia).

So, the tricky question is, how much of the penny's energy would go
into disrupting the Earth, versus how much would go into kinetic energy
of whatever came out the other side?

And finally, I'll note that (IMHO not superb, but still an enjoyable read)
the 1993 science-fiction novel "Flying to Valhalla",  by Charles Pellegrino,
is based on a similar question.
-- jt]]

Date Sujet#  Auteur
15 Jan 24 * Fast pennies2Stefan Ram
27 Jan 24 `- Re: Fast pennies1Stefan Ram

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