METEOR SHOWER (Acceleration or Not)
PLease choose the correct answer.
To determine whether a meteor shower involves acceleration or not, we need to consider the nature of a meteor shower and the motion of the meteors within it.
A meteor shower occurs when Earth passes through a trail of debris left by a comet or asteroid. As Earth moves through this debris field, tiny particles, known as meteoroids, enter Earth's atmosphere and burn up, creating streaks of light in the sky called meteors. The apparent motion of meteors in the sky is primarily due to their high speed relative to Earth's atmosphere.
However, in terms of acceleration, it depends on the reference frame we are considering. From the perspective of an observer on Earth, the individual meteors in a meteor shower experience acceleration. This is because as they enter Earth's atmosphere, they encounter air resistance which causes them to slow down.
On the other hand, from the perspective of an observer in space, the meteors would not experience acceleration since they are not subject to the same atmospheric resistance as they are in the vacuum of space.
So, in summary, if we consider the acceleration of meteors within a meteor shower from the perspective of an observer on Earth, the correct answer would be "acceleration."