Question

An astronaut's pack weighs 17.5 N when she is on earth, but only 3.24 N when she is on the surface of an asteroid. What is the acceleration due to gravity on this asteroid?
9.21 m/s^2
1.43 m/s^2
1.81 m/s^2
1.28 m/s^2
5.40 m/s^2

Answer 1

Answer:

a= 1.81 m/s²

Explanation:

Ratio of the weights on both surfaces can be calculated as,

$\frac{W_{a} }{W_{E} }$=$\frac{ma}{mg}$

Here;

   Wa is the weight on the asteroid,       $W_{E}$ is weight on earth,

         m is mass of pack,          a is acceleration due to an asteroid and

         g is acceleration due to gravity.

         Rearrange above equation for a,

           a=g ($\frac{Wa}{W_{E} }$)

Substitute 3.24 N for Wa,       17.5 N for  $W_{E}$,

          9.81 m/s² for g in the above equation,

          a= 9.81($\frac{3.24}{17.5}$)

          a= 1.81 m/s²