A possible means of space flight is to place a perfectly reflecting aluminized sheet into orbit around the Earth and then use the light from the Sun to push this "solar sail." Suppose a sail of area A = 5.20 ✕ 105 m2 and mass m = 6,800 kg is placed in orbit facing the Sun. Ignore all gravitational effects and assume a solar intensity of 1,370 W/m2.
A possible means of space flight is to place a perfectly reflecting aluminized sheet into orbit around the Earth and then use the light from the Sun to push this "solar sail." Suppose a sail of area A = 5.20 ✕ 105 m2 and mass m = 6,800 kg is placed in orbit facing the Sun. Ignore all gravitational effects and assume a solar intensity of 1,370 W/m2.
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A possible means of space flight is to place a perfectly reflecting aluminized sheet into orbit around the Earth and then use the light from the Sun to push this "solar sail." Suppose a sail of area A = 5.20 ✕ 105 m2 and mass m = 6,800 kg is placed in orbit facing the Sun. Ignore all gravitational effects and assume a solar intensity of 1,370 W/m2.
(d)
What If? If the solar sail were initially in Earth orbit at an altitude of 300 km, show that a sail of this mass density could not escape Earth's gravitational pull regardless of size. (Calculate the magnitude of the gravitational field in m/s2.)
m/s2
(e)
What would the mass density (in kg/m2) of the solar sail have to be for the solar sail to attain the same initial acceleration as that in part (b)?
kg/m2
Transcribed Image Text:A possible means of space flight is to place a perfectly reflecting aluminized sheet into orbit around the Earth and then use
the light from the Sun to push this "solar sail." Suppose a sail of area A = 5.20 x 105 m2 and mass m = 6,800 kg is placed
in orbit facing the Sun. Ignore all gravitational effects and assume a solar intensity of 1,370 w/m?.
(a) What force (in N) is exerted on the sail? (Enter the magnitude.)
4.75
N
(b) What is the sail's acceleration? (Enter the magnitude in um/s?.)
698
um/s?
(c) Assuming the acceleration calculated in part (b) remains constant, find the time interval (in days) required for the sail
to reach the Moon, 3.84 x 10° m away, starting from rest at the Earth.
12.14
days
(d) What If? If the solar sail were initially in Earth orbit at an altitude of 300 km, show that a sail of this mass density
could not escape Earth's gravitational pull regardless of size. (Calculate the magnitude of the gravitational field in
m/s?.)
m/s?
(e) What would the mass density (in kg/m2) of the solar sail have to be for the solar sail to attain the same initial
acceleration as that in part (b)?
| kg/m²
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