Do different angles of strike affect the destructive power of an asteroid?

I'm looking into the destructive power of a 5km asteroid strike, a bit smaller than the k-Pg event. How does the angle of the strike affect the destructive capability of a land-based impact.

For example, asteroid X (fixed velocity, say, 50 km/s) strikes at 90° vs. 45° vs. 1° vs. "grazing" the atmosphere (relative to a plane on any given point on the map). My guess is that 1° strike would have the most destructive force over land since the kinetic energy of a body would be spread out over populated areas in its reentry over a wider swath until it eventually struck land.

I'm only an armchair physicist. So, thank you for your replies. (First question I'm posing in this fantastic exchange.) - DDM

posted almost 7 years ago

System‭

21 reputation 200 13 3 0