Suppose That a Lone Asteroid Happens to Be Passing Jupiter

question 41

Multiple Choice

Suppose that a lone asteroid happens to be passing Jupiter on an unbound orbit (well above Jupiter's atmosphere and far from all of Jupiter's moons. ) Which of the following statements would be true?

• A)The asteroid's orbit around Jupiter would not change,and it would go out on the same unbound orbit that it came in on.
• B)Jupiter's gravity would capture the asteroid,making it a new moon of Jupiter.
• C)Jupiter's gravity would suck in the asteroid,causing it to crash into Jupiter.
• D)There is no way to predict what would happen.

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Definitions:

Poisson Distribution

A probability distribution that expresses the probability of a given number of events occurring in a fixed interval of time or space, assuming these events happen with a known constant mean rate and independently of the time since the last event.

Standard Deviation

An assessment of the range or distribution spread within a set of numbers.

Nuclear Power Plant

A facility that generates electricity by using nuclear reactions to produce heat, which then is used to power steam turbines.

Discrete Random Variables

Variables in statistical analysis that can take on a countable number of distinct values, often representing occurrences.