Question

Science fiction movies depict astronauts landing on large asteroids. The gravitational force of such bodies is typically less that 0.1 N/kg. Given an astronaut with a mass of 77.3 kilograms:

(a) What would his weight be on Earth (g= 9.8 N/kg) in newtons and pounds (force)?

(b) What would his weight be on an asteroid (g= 0.08 N/kg) in newtons and pounds (force)?

Answer 1

The weight on Earth would be:
77.3 * 9.8
= 757.54 Newtons
1 Newton = 0.2248 lbf
757.54 * 0.2248
= 170.29 lbf

On the asteroid:
77.3 * 0.08
= 6.18 Newtons
Applying the same conversion:
77.3 * 0.2240
= 17.31 lbf