DESIGNING AND MODELLING AN IMPACTOR

CHAIN REACTION PROJECT

Hello everybody!!! We are welcoming to all

participants as the Turkish Partner of the Chain Reaction

Project.

OUR PROJECT TEAM

TURKEY

ANKARA

CELAL YARDIMCI ANATOLIAN HIGH SCHOOL

Here is our teacher, Aydın Demir who supports us during the Project.

PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT

Within this project our aims are to…

(1) investigate how the celestial bodies that may crash into earth ground create craters

(2) establish a scientific model demonstrating diameters and deepness of the craters

WHY WE STUDY AN IMPACTOR?

Since both amateur and Professional astronomers have in wonder the effect of celestial bodies on earth

Our hypothesis: Our initial hypothesis is that diameter and deepness of the craters depend on hitting celestial bodys’ mass and angle of incidence

Link to school science: This project is about collision course and we constructed a primitive impactor

DATA COLLECTION We designed a system that we had chance to investigate how free-

fall objects have impacts the ground.

However, as we had seen from several videos no meteor or asteroids do not smash into the earth surface like a free fall object

rather they hit with diverse angles.

Therefore, we intentionally changed the falling angle of a meteor or an asteroid-like

substance that we used diverse sized marbles

We dropped the marbles from a specially designed inclined plane that was arranged as diverse angles (heights) to

model and concretely demonstrate the impacts of asteroids.

MATERIAL DESIGN PROCEDURESIn a fish tank we filled out soil to model the layers of the

earth. Fish tank is transparent, thus, layers are seen easily

The ground or the uppermost layer is filled with flour to see the effects of hits of the marbles. Two

meters are fastened up to two edges of the fish tank to measure angle and height.

An inclined plane is stayed to create angular smashing. Our design has not big size and is portable.

FINDINGSAngle Mass Diameter of created

craterDeepness of crater

10 18,4 2,9 1,9

10 36,8 7,3 1,4

10 99 7,4 2,8

30 18,4 4,6 3,1

30 36,8 5,5 2,7

30 99 8,8 3,4

45 18,4 2,1 3,1

45 36,8 4,3 4,1

45 99 4,4 4,5

60 18,4 2,6 4,3

60 36,8 2,2 4,3

60 99 6,8 6,9

70 18,4 2,4 5

70 36,8 2 6,1

70 99 3,9 6,4

80 18,4 2 6,8

80 36,8 2 7,4

80 99 2,7 7,4

Angle Mass Diameter deepness

10 18,4 2,9 1,9

30 18,4 4,6 3,1

45 18,4 2,1 3,1

60 18,4 2,6 4,3

70 18,4 2,4 5

80 18,4 2 6,8

10 36,8 7,3 1,4

30 36,8 5,5 2,7

45 36,8 4,3 4,1

60 36,8 2,2 4,3

70 36,8 2 6,1

80 36,8 2 7,4

10 99 7,4 2,8

30 99 8,8 3,4

45 99 4,4 4,5

60 99 6,8 6,9

70 99 3,9 6,4

80 99 2,7 7,4

1) Increasing angle and diameter of the crater (mass is constant; mass=18,4)

2) Increasing angle and diameter of the crater (mass is constant; mass=36,8)

3) Increasing angle and diameter of the crater (mass is constant; mass=99)

1 2 3 4 5 60

102030405060708090

diameter

angle

1 2 3 4 5 60

102030405060708090

1 2 3 4 5 60

102030405060708090

1)Increasing angle and deepness of the crater (mass is constant; mass=18,4)

2) Increasing angle and deepness of the crater (mass is constant; mass=36,8)

3) Increasing angle and deepness of the crater (mass is constant; mass=99)

1 2 3 4 5 60

102030405060708090

1 2 3 4 5 60

102030405060708090

1 2 3 4 5 60

102030405060708090

Conclusions 1) When the angle is increased (from 10 to 80) diameter of

the crater seems to increased, but there is critical point as 30 degrees, up to 30 degrees diameter is increased, then for higher degrees dramatically decreased.

2) When the angle is increased deepness of the crater is increased, it seems to relatively independent from the mass of the meteor.

3) Finally, mass of the meteor important but angle of the meteor also is an important factor in determining the crater diameter and deepness.