The strength of the gravitational field is dependent upon the mass of the planet
ID: 1337115 • Letter: T
Question
The strength of the gravitational field is dependent upon the mass of the planet you are standing on. If you are on the moon, which is 1.2% the mass of Earth, the value of the gravitational field is only 17% of that you would feel here on Earth.
You are on an alien planet. You drop a small rock so that air-resistance can be ignored. It hits the ground with a speed of 19.1m/s after a time of 1.4s. What is the value of the gravitational field in N/kg on this planet using the flat-earth approximation?
Explanation / Answer
initial speed = vo = 0
acceleration = a
time taken = 1.4 s
final speed = vf = 19.1 m/s
from the equation of motion
vf = vi + a*t
19.1 = 0 + a*1.4
a = 13.64 N/kg
on earth a' = 9.8 N/kg
(a)
(a-a')/a'*100 = 39 % more than that you feel on earth
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