An astronaut mass has a mass of 100kg She recedes from her spacecraft using spurts of gas from a small unit on her back. If the force generated by the gas spurt is 50N calculate her acceleration
F = ma
50 = 100a
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To calculate acceleration, we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass. The formula for calculating acceleration is:
acceleration = net force / mass
In this case, the net force acting on the astronaut is the force generated by the gas spurt, which is 50 N. The mass of the astronaut is given as 100 kg. Plugging in these values into the formula:
acceleration = 50 N / 100 kg
Simplifying this equation, we find:
acceleration = 0.5 m/s^2
Therefore, the astronaut's acceleration is 0.5 m/s^2.