Question

An astronaut, while pushing a beam into place on the International Space Station, exerted a 150-N force on the beam away from Earth. The beam accelerates at 0.15 m/s². Determine the mass of the beam, assuming the force of gravity is negligible.

Answer 1

The mass of the beam that the astronaut is pushing into place on the ISS is determined to be 1000 kg by using Newton's second law of motion with the given force of 150 N and acceleration of 0.15 m/s².

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the mass of the beam that the astronaut is pushing into place on the International Space Station (ISS), we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the force exerted on an object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration (F = ma). Given that the astronaut exerts a 150-N force on the beam and the beam accelerates at 0.15 m/s², we can rearrange the formula to solve for mass (m = F/a).

Thus, the mass of the beam is calculated as follows:

m = F/a = 150 N / 0.15 m/s² = 1000 kg.

The force of gravity is considered negligible in this scenario because the beam is in microgravity, so we don't have to account for the weight of the beam in our calculation.