The radiation pressure exerted by the Sun on theEarth counteracts the gravitational attraction and puts theEarth into an orbit that is farther from the Sun than if therewere no radiation pressure. It can be shown that the distanceadded to Earth’s orbital radius is given by 1Frad>Fg2r, where Frad isthe radiation force exerted on Earth by the Sun, Fg is the gravitational force between the Earth and Sun, and r is the average orbital radius. (a) If the intensity of sunlight that strikesEarth is 1360 W>m2, what is Frad, assuming the Earth is a perfect absorber? (b) Assuming r = 1.50 * 1011 m, what is Fg?(c) What is the additional distance added to Earth’s orbital radiusby the radiation pressure?
The
Earth counteracts the gravitational attraction and puts the
Earth into an orbit that is farther from the Sun than if there
were no radiation pressure. It can be shown that the distance
added to Earth’s orbital radius is given by 1Frad>Fg2r, where Frad is
the radiation force exerted on Earth by the Sun, Fg is the gravitational force between the Earth and Sun, and r is the average orbital radius. (a) If the intensity of sunlight that strikes
Earth is 1360 W>m2
, what is Frad, assuming the Earth is a perfect absorber? (b) Assuming r = 1.50 * 1011 m, what is Fg?
(c) What is the additional distance added to Earth’s orbital radius
by the radiation pressure?
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