VELOCITY AND SPIN OF FRAGMENTS FROM IMPACT DISRUPTIONS .1. AN EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH TO A GENERAL LAW BETWEEN MASS AND VELOCITY

A new velocity distribution for fragments from impact disruption of a gypsum sphere, a previous distribution for basalt and alumina targets, and basalt antipodal velocity data were compared using the center of mass system (CMS). The results show that the CMS velocity of fixed-mass fragments is within a range of an order of magnitude, despite the different materials and collisional conditions, as long as the projectile size is relatively unchanged. The CMS velocity is proportional to ∼ -( 1 3 ∼ 1 6) power of the mass, and this relationship is discussed in relation to the ejection model proposed for cratering by Melosh (1984, Icarus 59, 234-260, 1987, Int. J. Impact Eng. 5, 483-492). © 1992.