<p>It is possible the gravity changed locally. Depending on what the asteroid was made of, and the details of what happened in the collision, you might end up with a lump of denser asteroidal material buried in the Earth's crust under the impact crater. That could produce a measurable (although not noticeable to a human) increase in gravity locally.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-26T09:23:14.347Z
2018-04-26T09:23:14.347Z
Steve Linton
<p>The gravity of Earth did not change substantially.</p>

<p>The strength of gravity on Earth is about 9.8, but varies between 9.76 and 9.83 ms-2(due to Earth not being a perfect sphere)</p>

<p>This can be approximated from the mass of the Earth using $$g=GM_e/r_e^2$$</p>

<p>Where $M_e = 5.97219\times 10^{24}kg$ and $r_e= 6371000m$.</p>

<p>The mass of the asteroid was about $10^{16}kg$ That changes the mass from $5.97219\times 10^{24}$ to $5.97219001\times 10^{24}$. It changes the gravity from 9.8 to 9.800000001</p>

<p>In other words. The change in gravity was utterly insignificant. You probably get a greater change in gravity by walking downstairs.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-02T17:24:37.997Z
Hah - so you're leaving the calculation of  $\Delta F_G$ when altitude changes by 4 meters to the reader, huh?  :-)
Carl Witthoft
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-03T08:26:34.160Z
So, did the earth's atmosphere increase in depth by 4 meters?
Patrick Dawe
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-03T12:03:39.750Z
@PatrickDawe  I think  Carl was refering to the change in gravity when walking downstairs. The depth of the atmosphere changes all the time, by much more than 4m, due to solar flares heating the outer layers.
James K
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-26T04:19:29.870Z
4 meters $\Rightarrow$ $\Delta g \simeq 10^{-5}\,\mathrm{m}\,\mathrm{s}^{-2}$. The change from a $10^{16}\,\mathrm{kg}$ asteroid corresponds to a change in height of $5\,\mathrm{mm}$, i.e. the difference between your upper and lower teeth.
pela
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-30T10:02:47.000Z
2018-03-30T10:02:47.000Z
James K
<p>When the asteroid hit the earth 65 million years ago, did the earth's gravity pull change? By how much?</p>

<gravity><earth><meteorite>
When the asteroid hit the earth 65 mya did the earth's gravity pull change? By how much?
Patrick Dawe
# When the asteroid hit the earth 65 mya did the earth's gravity pull change? By how much?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-03-30)

When the asteroid hit the earth 65 million years ago, did the earth's gravity pull change? By how much?

**Tags:** gravity, earth, meteorite

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-03-30. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

The gravity of Earth did not change substantially.

The strength of gravity on Earth is about 9.8, but varies between 9.76 and 9.83 ms-2(due to Earth not being a perfect sphere)

This can be approximated from the mass of the Earth using $$g=GM\_e/r\_e^2$$

Where $M\_e = 5.97219\times 10^{24}kg$ and $r\_e= 6371000m$.

The mass of the asteroid was about $10^{16}kg$ That changes the mass from $5.97219\times 10^{24}$ to $5.97219001\times 10^{24}$. It changes the gravity from 9.8 to 9.800000001

In other words. The change in gravity was utterly insignificant. You probably get a greater change in gravity by walking downstairs.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Hah - so you're leaving the calculation of  $\Delta F_G$ when altitude changes by 4 meters to the reader, huh?  :-)  
> **username_0**: So, did the earth's atmosphere increase in depth by 4 meters?  
> **username_2**: @PatrickDawe  I think  Carl was refering to the change in gravity when walking downstairs. The depth of the atmosphere changes all the time, by much more than 4m, due to solar flares heating the outer layers.  
> **username_4**: 4 meters $\Rightarrow$ $\Delta g \simeq 10^{-5}\,\mathrm{m}\,\mathrm{s}^{-2}$. The change from a $10^{16}\,\mathrm{kg}$ asteroid corresponds to a change in height of $5\,\mathrm{mm}$, i.e. the difference between your upper and lower teeth.  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2018-04-26. Score: 0

It is possible the gravity changed locally. Depending on what the asteroid was made of, and the details of what happened in the collision, you might end up with a lump of denser asteroidal material buried in the Earth's crust under the impact crater. That could produce a measurable (although not noticeable to a human) increase in gravity locally.


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