Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi there I am quite new to this website but have a serious question...

While this has a despicable tone to it I wondered how much force the earth could take on a specific area (roughly 5 inches[12.7] long and 2 inches[5.08cm] wide) to in theory shatter earth...
While I know that an area that small couldn't possibly provide enough force to distribute all of it across earth. I wanted to know what the minimal area would be needed in order to properly distribute "X" amount of force all around the world therefore destroying it.

Thank you,
jrr015

Hi jrr015,

This site is primarily intended for assistance in grade 9-12 physical science projects.

Considering the force required to 'shatter earth' leads to many more questions and concepts. Since you define the area of impact and we recall that force = mass x acceleration, a huge force can also be an incredible mass not moving ridiculously fast.

That said, it's usually best to consider limits (extremes) in these situations. For example, an indestructible object with the cross sectional area you describe moving with infinite force would go right through the earth, the earth's gravity having little effect.

Would shatter the earth? I doubt it. To accommodate this force and subsequent displacement, the earth needs only to shift a few inches. Matter on earth is compressible and the earth's radius is about 250 million inches. Like shooting a needle through a watermelon. To put this displacement in real terms, massive earthquakes result from displacements of several feet along miles of a fault.

Also for reference, a meteor thought by some to have led to a near extinction-level event on earth was ~6-9 miles in diameter. It just left a crater and did not shatter the earth. I think we'd need an impact radius closer to 5-10% of the earth's diameter and much higher speed if we're interested to break the earth into pieces.

-John