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thequestioner
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What would happen if a coin sized object traveling at the speed of light were to collide with earth? What about a city sized object?
I think more interesting question would be what would happen to a coin traveling at the speed of light. :)thequestioner said:What would happen if a coin sized object traveling at the speed of light were to collide with earth? What about a city sized object?
BruceW said:In this case, ummm, If the coin was traveling pretty fast, as mfb said, it could give off a massive explosion. If it was going even faster, it might potentially blow up the earth. If it was going really fast, then it might just become a black hole due to so much energy being in such a small space. I'm not sure on the exact physics of black holes though. I still need to learn general relativity.
Drakkith said:No object would ever collapse into a black hole, as in it's rest frame the object is not moving and has no additional mass or energy.
I'm not sure how we'd work this out for sure but I'm betting the coin would fully disintegrate long before it made it through the Earth. Assuming the veracity of the baseball link above this would be a safe bet.DrStupid said:As we are talking about a coin hitting Earth there is additional mass and energy. I don't know if the coin may form a black hole in this situation but if this happens it would cross Earth within 32 ms and than escape into space. I even don't know what this would mean to Earth.
Ryan_m_b said:I'm betting the coin would fully disintegrate long before it made it through the Earth
If Earth's atmosphere suddenly disappeared, all living organisms would die due to lack of oxygen. The atmosphere protects us from harmful radiation, regulates the Earth's temperature, and provides the necessary gases for respiration.
If the Earth's rotation slowed down or stopped, the length of a day would change significantly, resulting in extreme weather patterns and disruptions to ecosystems. The Earth's magnetic field would also weaken, leaving us vulnerable to solar radiation.
If the Earth's magnetic poles flipped, there would be temporary disruptions to communication and navigation systems due to changes in the magnetic field. However, this process occurs gradually and does not pose a threat to life on Earth.
If a large asteroid were to hit Earth, it could potentially cause mass extinction, depending on its size and impact location. The impact would release a large amount of energy, triggering earthquakes, tsunamis, and changes in the Earth's climate.
If the Earth's temperature continues to rise due to climate change, we can expect more frequent and severe natural disasters, loss of biodiversity, and disruptions to food and water supply. It is crucial to take action to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change.