The robotic rovers exploring Mars, at a distance 1.5 AU (astronomical units; 1 A
ID: 1502073 • Letter: T
Question
The robotic rovers exploring Mars, at a distance 1.5 AU (astronomical units; 1 AU is the distance of the earth from the sun) from the sun,
get a significant fraction of their energy from solar panels that provide about 140 W when the sun is high.
Suppose the rovers were on Europa, a moon of Jupiter that is well worth a closer look. Europa is 5.2 A.U. from the sun.
What maximum power could the solar panels provide at this distance?
I'm not sure if I should just take a ratio of Power to Distance, or if I should use I = Psource/4pi r^2
Explanation / Answer
I = P/ 4 pi r^2 = 140 / 4 pi ( 1.5 *1.5 * 10^11 m)^2 = 2.2 * 10^-22 W/m^2
P = I A = 2.2 * 10^-22 W/m^2 ( 4 pi ( 5.2 * 1.5 * 10^11 m)^2 = 1681.13 W
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