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Cover a baking tin with transparent film and put it outdoors. Micrometeorites have enough velocity to punch through, but windblown dirt rarely does. Classic grade school experiment.



Really?

Wouldn't that be far more dependent on particle size? Micrometeorites are going to reach terminal velocity fairly quickly, and that's largely going to be based on particle size and density, rather than original velocity.

Sand-grain-sized micrometeorites (or the sand-grain-sized surviving fragments of larger meteors) will have a terminal velocity of on the order of a metre per second or so.


That's enough to punch through thin plastic wrap. But if the pan is sheltered from wind, random dirt in the air won't punch through.




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