Consider a monkey wrench released at rest at the far edge of the solar system.Suppose that it drops to the Earth by virtue of only Earth gravity.It will strike the Earth's surface with a speed of about
A)9)8 m/s.
B)8 km/s.
C)11.2 km/s.
D)the speed of light.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The monkey wrench will experience a constant acceleration due to Earth's gravity as it moves towards the Earth. The acceleration due to gravity near the Earth's surface is approximately 9.8 m/s^2. Using the equation for constant acceleration, we can find the final velocity of the monkey wrench when it reaches the Earth's surface:

v^2 = u^2 + 2as

where v is the final velocity, u is the initial velocity (which is zero in this case), a is the acceleration due to gravity, and s is the distance traveled.

Assuming the distance from the far edge of the solar system to the Earth's surface is approximately 150 billion meters (the distance from the Earth to the edge of the solar system), we can solve for v:

v^2 = 0 + 2(9.8 m/s^2)(1.5 x 10^11 m) 
v = 111,271 m/s or 111 km/s

This is equivalent to approximately 402,460 km/h or 248,500 mph. The closest answer choice is C, 11.2 km/s.

Consider a Monkey Wrench Released at Rest at the Far