If the 78.0 kg astronaut were in a spacecraft 6R from the center of the earth, what would the astronaut's weight be on earth?

Question

irishboy123 · Answer

on earth he would still weigh 78kg, or 78•9.8 N!!!

anonymous · Answer

Okay then it asks how much would he weigh in the space shuttle ? I guessed 21.0 N but have no idea

matt101 · Answer

For earth, F=ma works to find the weight because the distance between the mass of interest (the astronaut) and the mass of the earth is negligible and g is constant.

However, if we're talking about the astronaut in the space shuttle, the distance between him and the earth is much larger, and g varies as a function of distance. The equation you need to use instead is:

$$F={GmM \over r^2}$$

Where G is the gravitational constant, m is the mass of the astronaut, M is the mass of the earth, and r is the distance between the two masses.

Plugging in the appropriate numbers for each of these variables will give you the astronaut's weight!

anonymous · Answer

Thank you SO much!!