Eli5 If uranus is a gas giant with just a rocky core, how did it get hit by a celestial body that caused it to tilt so much?

Question

Wouldn’t the body have slowed down while passing through is thick atmosphere before reaching the core, thereby not affecting the planet’s tilt?

In: 12

Answer 1

>**Wouldn’t the body have slowed down while passing through is thick atmosphere before reaching the core**, thereby not affecting the planet’s tilt?

The second part of that sentence in no way follows the first part! Why would anything need to “reach the core” in order to affect the planet’s motion? The [second law of motion](https://tinyurl.com/4d54h9wx) applies to everything and if a body of gas somehow influences the trajectory of an object that passes through it then the object necessarily also influences the body of gas.