Apollo 14 astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. used an improvised six-iron to strike two golf balls while on the Fra Mauro region of the moon’s surface, making what some consider the longest golf drive in history. Assume one of the golf balls was struck with initial velocity v0 = 28.5 m/s at an angle θ = 29° above the horizontal. The gravitational acceleration on the moon’s surface is approximately 1/6 that on the earth’s surface. Use a Cartesian coordinate system with the origin at the ball's initial position. a. What horizontal distance, R in meters, did this golf ball travel before returning to the lunar surface? b. What is the numeric value of the ratio, f, of the horizontal distance traveled on the moon to the horizontal distance the ball would travel on Earth's surface under the same conditions?
Gravitational force
In nature, every object is attracted by every other object. This phenomenon is called gravity. The force associated with gravity is called gravitational force. The gravitational force is the weakest force that exists in nature. The gravitational force is always attractive.
Acceleration Due to Gravity
In fundamental physics, gravity or gravitational force is the universal attractive force acting between all the matters that exist or exhibit. It is the weakest known force. Therefore no internal changes in an object occurs due to this force. On the other hand, it has control over the trajectories of bodies in the solar system and in the universe due to its vast scope and universal action. The free fall of objects on Earth and the motions of celestial bodies, according to Newton, are both determined by the same force. It was Newton who put forward that the moon is held by a strong attractive force exerted by the Earth which makes it revolve in a straight line. He was sure that this force is similar to the downward force which Earth exerts on all the objects on it.
Apollo 14 astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. used an improvised six-iron to strike two golf balls while on the Fra Mauro region of the moon’s surface, making what some consider the longest golf drive in history. Assume one of the golf balls was struck with initial velocity v0 = 28.5 m/s at an angle θ = 29° above the horizontal. The gravitational acceleration on the moon’s surface is approximately 1/6 that on the earth’s surface. Use a Cartesian coordinate system with the origin at the ball's initial position.
a. What horizontal distance, R in meters, did this golf ball travel before returning to the lunar surface?
b. What is the numeric value of the ratio, f, of the horizontal distance traveled on the moon to the horizontal distance the ball would travel on Earth's surface under the same conditions?
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