Ok. We say that v=Cve
So bmax2 = R2 + (2RGMe)/Cve2
Then π bmax2 = π R2 + 2π RGMe/Cve2
Distributing pi to both sides of the equations helps me see that I'm now looking at circular area equations, so that helps to but bmax into perspective. I plugged in ve = sqrt(2Gm/R) which helped me reduce...
Homework Statement
In this problem, you will estimate the cross section for an earth-asteroid collision. In all that follows, assume that the Earth is fixed in space and that the radius of the asteroid is much less than the radius R of the earth. The mass of the Earth is M_e, and the mass of...