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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.

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
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
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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