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The weight of an astronaut plus his space suit on the moon is only 235 N. W= 235N

(a) How much do they weigh on Earth, in newtons, assuming the acceleration due to gravity on the moom is 1.67m/s^2 ?
(b) What is the mass of the astronaut and his space suit on the moon, in kilograms?
(c) What is the mass of the astronaut and his spacesuit on the Earth, in kilograms?

1 Answer

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Final answer:

The weight of the astronaut and his space suit on Earth would be approximately 1380.67 N. Their mass on both the Moon and Earth is 140.72 kg, as mass is an intrinsic property and does not change with location.

Step-by-step explanation:

The weights of objects differ on the Moon and Earth due to the difference in gravity on these celestial bodies. The acceleration due to gravity on Earth is approximately 9.81 m/s², while it is only 1.67 m/s² on the Moon. Weight is calculated as the product of mass and acceleration due to gravity (W = mg).

(a) To find the weight of the astronaut and his space suit on Earth, we first calculate the mass using the given weight on the Moon:

W_moon = m × g_moon

235 N = m × 1.67 m/s²

m = 235 N / 1.67 m/s² ≈ 140.72 kg

Then, we use the mass to calculate the weight on Earth:

W_earth = m × g_earth

W_earth = 140.72 kg × 9.81 m/s² ≈ 1380.67 N

(b) The mass of the astronaut and his space suit on the Moon is 140.72 kg, as calculated above.

(c) The mass on Earth is an intrinsic property of the astronaut and his space suit and does not change based on location, so it is also 140.72 kg.

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