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If the 50 kg boy were in a spacecraft 5.0r from the center of the earth, what would his weight be?

User Halim
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1 Answer

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·The acceleration of gravity is proportional to

1 / (the square of the distance from the center) .

When we're on the surface, we're 1 radius from the center of the Earth,
and the acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s² .

The boy's weight = (mass) · (gravity) = (50kg) · (9.8 m/s²)

= 490 newtons .

At the distance of 5 radii from the center (4 radii altitude from the surface),
the acceleration of gravity is

(9.8 m/s²) · (1/5)² = 0.39 m/s² .

The boy's weight is (mass) · (gravity) = (50kg) · (0.39 m/s²)

= 19.6 newtons .

Just as we expected, his weight at that distance is

(19.6 / 490) = 0.04 = 1/25 = 1/5² of his weight on the surface.
User Ravi Gupta
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