Lesson .

Asteroid Ace: A 'Pi in the Sky' Math Challenge

Subject

Math

Grade Levels

11-12

Time Required

Under 30 mins

Overview

The "Pi in the Sky" math challenge gives students a chance to take part in recent discoveries and upcoming celestial events, all while using math and pi just like NASA scientists and engineers. In this problem from the set, students use the mathematical constant pi to determine the rotation rate of the first interstellar asteroid that scientists detected in our solar system in 2017.

Materials

Pi in the Sky 5: Asteroid Ace worksheet – download PDF
Pi in the Sky 5 answer key – download PDF

Procedures

Asteroid 'Oumuamua is a uniquely-shaped interstellar object discovered in October 2017. It’s the first visitor from outside our solar system to be detected. Preliminary analyses indicate that 'Oumuamua is quite elongated, about 10 times as long as it is wide. It was first detected after it had passed Earth at a high speed on its journey out of our solar system, traveling at about 85,700 miles per hour. So scientists could make detailed observations of the interstellar visitor before it sped too far away, they had to quickly re-plan their schedules. By monitoring how the brightness of the asteroid fluctuated as it spun on its axis, scientists estimate that 'Oumuamua rotates once every 7.3 hours. Given these findings, what's the angular rotation rate of asteroid 'Oumuamua in rad/s? How does this compare with Earth's rotation rate