Re: Welcome to the 19th century
"If the Siberian object, at 120 feet across, was equivalent to to 185 * Hiroshima (185 * 20 kilotonnes = 3700 kilitonnes), why was the Chelyabinsk object, at slightly over half the size (65 feet), only equivalent to 500 kilotonnes?"
Shape, density, composition, velocity, irregularities in the composition of the meteor, density of the atmosphere at the point of disruption of the mass, amount disrupted and size of the resulting debris all come to mind, along with a full dozen other factors that would include time of year (atmospheric density of the lower atmosphere based upon the temperature), amount of water in the are (density and cooling factors if it passed through stratospheric clouds), altitude of disruption also figures in.
If it popped upon contact with the boundary of the stratosphere, the effects on the ground would be lesser than if it popped midway through the stratosphere, due to the inverse square law and atmospheric density. If it disrupted into 5cm units and less vs 5M rocks and assorted sized debris, etc.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
