Question

The gravitational acceleration on the moon is about one-sixth the size of the gravitational acceleration on Earth. According to Newton’s second law of motion, what happens to an astronaut who goes to the moon?

Answer 1

His weight decreases because the moon’s gravitational acceleration is less.

Answer 2

the astronaut will experience his weight 1/6 times smaller than the weigh near the surface of earth

Step-by-step explanation:

As per Newton's II law we know that net force on an object is given by the product of mass and acceleration

so here we have

`F_(net) = ma`

now we know that acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the moon is 1/6 times the acceleration near the surface of earth

so we will have

`a = (g)/(6)`

now the force near the surface of moon on an astronaut is given as

`F = m(g)/(6)`

so the astronaut will experience his weight 1/6 times smaller than the weigh near the surface of earth