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If the asteroid that hit the earth causing the dinosaurs to become extinct was millions?

of times stronger than an atomic bomb, wouldn't the earth have gotten knocked off its axis from this gigantic impact?

16 Answers

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  • 11 months ago

    Let me give you some idea of the masses and energies involved.

    d(CI) = diameter of the Chicxulub Impactor (i.e. the dinosaur killer) = 10 km

    D(E) = diameter of Earth = 6,378 km

    m(CI) = mass of the Chicxulub Impactor (i.e. the dinosaur killer) = 2.31E+17 kg

    M(E) = mass of Earth = 5.97E+24 kg

    E1 = energy yield of the Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima = 6.45E+13 J (15.5 KT)

    E1 = energy yield of the Fat Man atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki = 8.75E+13 J (21.0 KT)

    E3 = energy yield of the Tsar Bomb, the largest ever human explosion = 2.10E+17 J (50,000 KT = 50 MT)

    E4 = energy yield of the Chicxulub Impactor (i.e. the dinosaur killer) = 5.00E+23 J (120 million MT)

  • Rumple
    Lv 4
    11 months ago

    No.  The earth is much much much larger than you realize.  You should get out more...

  • ?
    Lv 7
    11 months ago

    No.  The Earth is quite big, and has a lot of rotational momentum, like a gyroscope.

  • Anonymous
    11 months ago

    You have no idea of the masses you are blithely talking about.

  • 11 months ago

    I don't really know what you mean by "knocked off its axis".  What do you imagine that it means ?  But what difference would it make if it did ?  Amongst all the other catastrophic effects of the impact, a slight shift in the axis (IF it had happened) would be unnoticeable.

  • Paul
    Lv 7
    11 months ago

    A million atomic bombs wouldn't knock the Earth off its axis. An atomic blast, viewed from space, is like a pebble thrown into a pond.

  • D g
    Lv 7
    11 months ago

    The impact was near Mexico near the equator so the axis of the earth would get very little effect from the hit

    The spin might have changed

  • 11 months ago

    The Largest Nuclear Explosion ever was in the Tundra of Siberia by the USSR

     called the TSAR  Bomb, it was 250 Megaton and the vibrations were felt in New York

    It was decided then to Limit their size after that

    The Cold War eh ?

    Asteroids come into a world of their own, their bang is percussion but the effects can be similar, bar the radiation

    Attachment image
    Source(s): Ow !! something hit me on the head !!
  • 11 months ago

    The rock that hit Earth was about 6 miles in diameter; the Earth is 8000 miles in diameter - and millions of times more massive.  While the impact was damaging to the surface, it simply didn’t have the force to significantly change the planet’s rotational axis.

  • 11 months ago

    probably the orbit was altered slightly and or the rotation rate changed slightly, but it would take a much larger collision to radically change the orbit, such as the one that formed the moon.

    no idea what "knocked off its axis" means ...

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