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by mr_toad 1705 days ago
A lot depends on the initial velocity and angle of impact.

Considering that the earths atmosphere isn’t much more than 100km thick, and a meteor could in theory come in head-on with an initial velocity of 70km per second, there isn’t going to much time for it to slow down.

2 comments

70km/s is interstellar material
Based on some quick googling (not an expert in the related physics like some sibling commenters seem to be), earth’s orbital velocity around the sun is ~30km/s and the sun’s orbital velocity around the center of the galaxy is 250km/s
Air resistance is to first approximation quadratic with velocity. High initial velocities lead to very high braking force, so it wouldn't have 70 km/s for very long. Also see surrounding comments for more related physics.