The Circular Logic Of Meteor Impacts

The Circular Logic Of Meteor Impacts
meteor-memes, crater-memes, conspiracy-memes, physics-memes, impact-memes | ScienceHumor.io

Oh look, another conspiracy theory trying to debunk basic physics! The meme is questioning why meteor craters are circular instead of elongated like the second image. Spoiler alert: it's not because NASA is lying to you.

When a meteor hits Earth, the explosive energy radiates equally in all directions regardless of impact angle. The resulting crater is almost always circular because the energy transfer creates a spherical shock wave. Even meteors hitting at shallow angles produce circular craters—it's not some grand cover-up, just good ol' physics doing its thing.

Next they'll be asking why water doesn't stay in the shape of the ice cube tray. I swear, teaching freshman physics gets more challenging every year...

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