Passage III

When an asteroid hits the surface of a planet or moon, an impact crater is formed. An asteroid that hits Earth under a specific set of conditions (including speed and angle), referred to here as Set C, forms a crater with a diameter about 20 times the asteroid's diameter. Figure 1 shows the energy released by the impact, for a range of asteroid diameters.

Figure 2 shows the average amount of time that elapses between consecutive impacts on Earth by asteroids with the same diameter, for a range of asteroid diameters. Figure 3 shows the percent of the surface of the Moon, Mercury, and Mars that is covered by impact craters, for various ranges of crater diameter.

Figures adapted from Eugene M, Shoemaker and Carolyn S. Shoemake r, ''The Role of Collisions." ©1999 by Sky Publishing Corp.

16. Suppose an asteroid, under Set C conditions, hit Earth to form a crater 20 km in diameter. Based on Figure 1 and other information provided, that asteroid impact most likely released an amount of energy closest to which of the following?

Answer and Explanation

Your Answer is

Correct Answer is J

Explanation

Look at the first paragraph of the article, the fourth line and the fifth line form a crater with a diameter about 20 times the asteroid's diameter, so when the crater diameter=20 km, the asteroid diameter=1 km;

corresponds to figure 1. When the abscissa = 1 km, the ordinate is about 30000-40000, and the closest option is J