system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
When it comes to earth killer asteroids, is it purely due to size, or does mass matter as well?

Assuming another 10km wide dino-killer was in earths path, would it cause the same damage if it was the equivalent mass of gravel, as opposed to one single lump?

So would slamming into a 10km diameter sphere of gravel do more or less damage than slamming into a solid 10km rock?

Its the same mass of asteroid, just different size.
gpt
The damage done by an asteroid impact will be roughly proportional to the kinetic energy at impact which is equal to 1/2 * m * v^2 where **m** is mass and **v** is velocity. So the damage done will be proportional to mass and the square of velocity.

I don't think it would make much difference if the object was made of gravel rather than rock. Either way most of the kinetic energy will be immediately turned into heat and radiation.