Terrifying simulation shows what would happen if a needle traveling the speed of light hit earth
If a needle for whatever reason was in space heading on a crash course for Earth, you'd imagine it wouldn't do much damage.
It's a needle, right? But if that needle was traveling at 670,616,629mph then, of course, it's a different story - which one YouTuber has explained through a terrifying simulation.
But first, to put that speed into comparison, the road with the highest speed limit in the US can be found on the Texas State Highway 130, and it is a toll road aimed for long-distance commuters bypassing Austin, with the limit posted at 85mph.
Advert
The speed of light is 7,889,607 times faster than the highest legal limit motorists in America can drive... so, that needle's coming in fast.
Now, explaining what would happen if Earth was hit by a needle traveling that fast, Australian YouTuber AstroKobi said: "You may have seen this viral video showing exactly what would happen if a needle hit the Earth at the speed of light, and I want to see just how realistic this is, so I did the math."
The content creator was referencing fellow YouTuber Ridddle's 10-minute long video titled 'What If a Needle Hits the Earth at the Speed of Light?' where he demonstrates what might happen.
AstroKobi continues: "So let's assume the needle is made of just iron and weighs one gram and is traveling at 99.9999% the speed of light. When it strikes the Earth, it will have a kinetic energy of 201 million billion joules of energy.
"That is the equivalent of three Tsar bombs, the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated.
"It would definitely create an impact crater, significantly smaller than if it were an asteroid, because the needle is just much smaller, but definitely big enough to cause some damage, it would form a huge fireball, probably a bit smaller than this, but still much bigger than even the biggest nukes."
Before adding: "Now, of course, this is highly theoretical, and nothing could travel at the speed of light, so you don't have to worry."
But what actually could happen?
According to Ridddle, the most likely option is a pretty devastating one.
Even a sewing needle measuring just 35mm could cause significant damage if moving at an absurdly high speed, resulting in damage similar to that caused by the so-called 'Fat Man' bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945.
The impact would cause total and utter destruction to wherever it lands and the surrounding area. However, that isn’t even the most disastrous possibility.
One other potential outcome is that the needle would not explode on impact, but would instead seep into the Earth’s crust and create a hole that allows plasma to engulf the Earth in insurmountable heat.
As a result, every living thing on our planet would die before the planet itself gets torn apart and eviscerated.
While the third and final potential outcome of a needle hitting the Earth at the speed of light is that, due to its shape and speed, the needle could theoretically fly straight through one side of the Earth and out the other with minimal effects on the world at large.
Joe Yates