This problem is closely related to the spectacular impact of the comet shoemaker-levy with jupiter in july 1994. A rock far outside a solar system similar to ours is initially moving very slowly relative to its sun, in the plane of the orbit of a large planet (about the size of Jupiter) around its sun. The rock falls toward the sun, but on its way to the sun it collides with the planet. The mass of the planet is 8.0 x 10²⁷ kg, the mass of its sun is 3.5 x 10³⁰ kg, the radius of the planet is 1.4 x 10⁸ m, and the center-to-center distance from the planet to the sun is 8.9 x 10¹¹ m.
Calculate the rock's speed just before it collides with the planet.
Which of these assumptions or approximations did you make in your analysis? (Select all that apply.)
a. The interaction of the rock and the sun was not significant.
b. The initial speed of the rock was nearly zero.
c. The speed of the rock did not change significantly.
d. The speed of the planet did not change significantly.
e. The distance between the planet and the star did not change significantly.
f. The speed of the sun did not change significantly.