You’re an astronomer studying the origin of the solar system, and you’re evaluat
ID: 1511848 • Letter: Y
Question
You’re an astronomer studying the origin of the solar system, and you’re evaluating the hypothesis that small particles (rock/dust) were blown out of the solar system by the radiation pressure of sunlight. (a) First determine the power output of the sun using the fact that the sun’s light intensity at earth is about 1400 W/m2 . What area is this energy spread over to give this intensity (it’s NOT the surface area of earth)? (b) Calculate how small the particles must be for this mechanism to work by comparing the force on the particles from the sun’s radiation pressure to the force from sun’s gravity (note: these forces push in opposite directions). Assuming spherical particles with a density of 2 g/cm3 , for what particle diameter do the two forces balance? (c) The particle diameter for which these two forces balance is independent of where the particle is located within the solar system (distance from the sun). Why?
Explanation / Answer
A)P=intensity*area=1400W
B) area= *r^2=*(6400*10^3)^2=201.06*10^8m^2
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