https://physlab-wiki.com/ 2026-04-14T23:43:57+00:00 https://physlab-wiki.com/ https://physlab-wiki.com/lib/tpl/UChicago/images/favicon.ico text/html 2024-10-25T11:36:22+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://physlab-wiki.com/phylabs/lab_courses/phsc-116_117-wiki-home/cratering-phsc/setup?rev=1729870582&do=diff The below is linked from the PHYS 121/131 Cratering (Part 1) setup page. Cratering (Part 1) ---------- Common area * 2-m sticks * 1-m sticks * Rulers * Calipers * Tape (a couple rolls) * Balances (two per room) * Box of spare balls * NOTE: I prefer to sort of hide this box in the corner and tell TAs not to make students aware of it. If students think they can get infinite balls, they will never search for their lost ball bearings in the sand. text/html 2024-10-25T11:36:24+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://physlab-wiki.com/phylabs/lab_courses/phsc-116_117-wiki-home/cratering-phsc/start?rev=1729870584&do=diff Experiment Setup Cratering (PHSC) Crater formation is a complex process, and it isn't obvious that one would be able to learn much about it from a small tabletop experiment. However, by making a few assumptions about what happens to the kinetic energy of an impactor after it strikes a surface and by applying dimensional analysis, we can come up with a simple model for how crater diameter scales with the kinetic energy of the impactor.$K=\frac{1}{2}mv^2$$m$$v$$M$$V$$d^3$$M \propto V \propto d…