Question

An astronaut is doing a spacewalk on a long tether from the International Space Station (mass of 420,000 kg). His spacesuit includes a very sensitive gravitometer, which indicates the gravitational force acting on the astronaut and his spacesuit from the ISS is 7.0 E−7 N. If the mass of the astronaut in his suit is 250 kg, how far away from the ISS is the astronaut if G = 6.67 E−11 N*m2/kg2?

A. 0.100 km
B. 0.200 km
C. 0.500 km
D. 1 km

Answer 1

C. 0.500 km

We can use the equation for gravitational force (F = G * m1 * m2 / r^2) where G is the gravitational constant, m1 and m2 are the two masses, and r is the distance between the two masses.

Given that the gravitational force acting on the astronaut from the ISS is 7.0 E−7 N and the mass of the astronaut is 250 kg and the mass of the ISS is 420,000 kg.

We can rearrange the equation to solve for the distance r:

r = (G * m1 * m2 / F)^(1/2)

r = (6.67 E−11 N*m2/kg2 * 250 kg * 420,000 kg / 7.0 E−7 N)^(1/2)

r = 0.5 km

So the astronaut is 0.5 km away from the ISS.