Thread: Impact effects calculator

I was just dinking around, and I came across this. You enter some data about a hypothetical impact of the earth by some sort of projectile, and it gives you some pretty cool data about the impact. Here is one I did with random numbers...maybe someone will find this useful and or cool.

Your Inputs:
Distance from Impact: 16.10 km = 10.00 miles
Projectile Diameter: 160934.00 m = 527863.52 ft = 99.94 miles
Projectile Density: 8000 kg/m3
Impact Velocity: 161000.00 km/s = 99981.00 miles/s (Your chosen velocity is higher than the maximum for an object orbiting the sun)
Impact Angle: 90 degrees
Target Density: 2500 kg/m3
Target Type: Sedimentary Rock

Energy:
Energy before atmospheric entry: 5.41 x 10^19 MegaTons TNT
The average interval between impacts of this size is longer than the Earth's age.
Such impacts could only occur during the accumulation of the Earth, between 4.5 and 4 billion years ago.

Major Global Changes:
The Earth is completely disrupted by the impact and its debris forms a new asteroid belt orbiting the sun between Venus and Mars.

One more with a bit more data:

Your Inputs:
Distance from Impact: 16.10 km = 10.00 miles
Projectile Diameter: 45.72 m = 149.96 ft = 0.03 miles
Projectile Density: 8000 kg/m3
Impact Velocity: 72.00 km/s = 44.71 miles/s
Impact Angle: 90 degrees
Target Density: 2500 kg/m3
Target Type: Sedimentary Rock

Energy:
Energy before atmospheric entry: 1.04 x 10^18 Joules = 2.48 x 10^2 MegaTons TNT
The average interval between impacts of this size somewhere on Earth during the last 4 billion years is 7.7 x 103years

Atmospheric Entry:
The projectile begins to breakup at an altitude of 37300 meters = 122000 ft
The projectile reaches the ground in a broken condition. The mass of projectile strikes the surface at velocity 47.6 km/s = 29.5 miles/s
The impact energy is 4.53 x 1017 Joules = 1.08 x 102MegaTons.
The broken projectile fragments strike the ground in an ellipse of dimension 0.233 km by 0.233 km

Major Global Changes:
The Earth is not strongly disturbed by the impact and loses negligible mass.
The impact does not make a noticeable change in the Earth's rotation period or the tilt of its axis.
The impact does not shift the Earth's orbit noticeably.

Crater Dimensions:
Crater shape is normal in spite of atmospheric crushing; fragments are not significantly dispersed.

Transient Crater Diameter: 2.33 km = 1.45 miles
Transient Crater Depth: 0.826 km = 0.513 miles

Final Crater Diameter: 2.92 km = 1.81 miles
Final Crater Depth: 0.622 km = 0.387 miles

The crater formed is a simple crater

The floor of the crater is underlain by a lens of broken rock debris (breccia) with a maximum thickness of 289 m = 946 ft.
The volume of the target melted or vaporized is 0.00403 km3 = 0.000967 miles3
Roughly half the melt remains in the crater

Thermal Radiation:
Time for maximum radiation: 0.0323 seconds after impact

Visible fireball radius: 1.52 km = 0.941 miles
The fireball appears 21.4 times larger than the sun
Thermal Exposure: 8.21 x 105 Joules/m2
Duration of Irradiation: 20 seconds
Radiant flux (relative to the sun): 41.1

Effects of Thermal Radiation:
Much of the body suffers second degree burns

Newspaper ignites

Deciduous trees ignite

Seismic Effects:
The major seismic shaking will arrive at approximately 3.22 seconds.
Richter Scale Magnitude: 6.0
Mercalli Scale Intensity at a distance of 16.1 km:

VI. Felt by all, many frightened. Some heavy furniture moved; a few instances of fallen plaster. Damage slight.

VII. Damage negligible in buildings of good design and construction; slight to moderate in well-built ordinary structures; considerable damage in poorly built or badly designed structures; some chimneys broken.

Ejecta:
The ejecta will arrive approximately 57.4 seconds after the impact.
Average Ejecta Thickness: 6.36 cm = 2.5 inches
Mean Fragment Diameter: 2.24 m = 7.36 ft

Air Blast:
The air blast will arrive at approximately 48.8 seconds.
Peak Overpressure: 55700 Pa = 0.557 bars = 7.91 psi
Max wind velocity: 108 m/s = 242 mph
Sound Intensity: 95 dB (May cause ear pain)
Damage Description:

Multistory wall-bearing buildings will collapse.

Wood frame buildings will almost completely collapse.

Glass windows will shatter.

Up to 90 percent of trees blown down; remainder stripped of branches and leaves.