Students conducted an experiment to simulate meteorite impacts on Earth using different materials like flour and sugar in containers. They dropped objects like ping pong balls from varying heights to represent meteorites and measured the width and depth of resulting craters. Larger meteorite sizes and higher drop heights created wider and deeper craters. Their results showed meteorite impacts can vary in scale depending on the meteorite's composition and size. The document discusses detecting potential threats from asteroids and meteorites through satellite monitoring and proposes building a "space shield" of telescopes to help protect Earth.

1. WE PROTECT EARTH
A.ANDINI, f.LIONETTI , D.PASCALE , L.PERRONE , M. SABELLA
Classe 1 CS
Istituto Istruzione Secondaria Superiore
Francesco Saverio Nitti

2. • There were, during the years, meteorite impacts on
the Earth. The first impact occurred about 4 billions
years ago and since then there have been others.
• One occurred in 1938 in Illinois, America and
another, again in the USA, took place in Peekskill in
1980.

3. • Ten years later there were two more impacts:.
one in Spain in 1990 and one in Japan in 1995.
• The impacts are generally caused by asteroids,
fragments of asteroids and meteorites.
• There are three types of meteorites: those rocky,
ferrous and rocky-ferrous ones.

4. • The first and second ones are very common while
the rocky-ferrous meteorites are very rare.
• These «bodies» are very dangerous for us and for
the world around (schools, houses, buildings, etc…);
in fact, many people were injured because of these
«bodies» impact.

5. In order to understand the damages caused by the
impact of meteorites on the Earth, we carried out
an experiment with different materials to have a
similar impact of a meteorite on the surrounding
ground.

6. • In order to develop the simulation of the impact of
meteorites on the land, we used two containers
we have filled with different materials (flour, sugar)
and various objects of circular form which stood for
meteorites. Then, we set the heights from which
we launched those meteorites and we started the
simulation.

7. • The results of the experiment are reported in the
following chart.

8. TABLE OF EXPERIMENTAL MEAUSUREMENTS
Material Type of
ball
Launch
height
Ball
size
Crater
width
Crater
depth
Flour Ping-pong 1.50m 3.0cm 3.5cm 1.0cm
Flour Orange 1.50m 6.0cm 6.0cm 2.0cm
Flour Gum 1.50m 2.5cm 3.0cm 1.5cm
Flour Sponge 1.50m 4.0cm 4.0cm 1.5cm
Sugar Ping-pong 1.70m 3.0cm 1.0cm 0.5cm
Sugar Ping-pong 1.60m 3.0cm 2.0cm 0.5cm
Sugar Tangerine 1.80m 4.0cm 4.0cm 2.0cm

9. GRAPH OF EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS
«FLOUR»
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Ping-pong Orange Gum Sponge
launch eight
ball size
crater width
crater depth

10. 0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
3
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
4
4.2
Ping-pong Ping-pong Tangerine
launch eight
ball size
crater widht
crater depth
GRAPH OF EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS
«SUGAR»

11. Thanks to our experiment, we have understood that
meteorite craters will be of variable width an depth,
depending on the size and material of the meteorite
itself.

12. • The possibility that a meteorite hits the Earth in a
short time are few.
• According to scholars, a good metod to detect
space objects that could collide on the Earth, is
sending satellites around the orbit of the Earth to
alert researchers in case of a meteorite
approaching.
• American scientists are discussing about the way to
help protect the Earth from possible impacts with
meteorites.

13. • American scholars, an observatory in Arizona are
considering the possibility of building a space
shield.
• The «space shield» program that has been begun in
the observatory in Arizona, has shown that the
NEO can be detected at a certain distance from the
ground.
• With the use of large telescopes, the distance
within which we can see these bodies, can increase.

14. • Space shield program should provide for a system
of six telescopes, each one with a diameter of 2.5
cm, which can monitor 6000 square degrees of sky.
• This program could help protect the Earth from
many meteorites and prevent global disaster.

15. THANKSAlessia, Francesco, Davide, Lorenzo, Mario