An astronaut has a mass of 100 kg. 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 50 N, calculate her acceleration.
F = m a, so
a = F/m = 50 N/100 kg = 0.5 m/s^2
This will only be true when the "spurts" are coming out. For uniform acceleration you need a uniform rate of gas generation, not "spurts".
ori63
sxsadaas
To calculate the astronaut's 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 equation can be written as:
F = ma
Where:
F is the force acting on the object
m is the mass of the object
a is the acceleration of the object
In this case, the force acting on the astronaut is 50 N, and the mass of the astronaut is 100 kg. We can rearrange the equation to solve for the acceleration (a):
a = F/m
Substituting the given values:
a = 50 N / 100 kg
a = 0.5 m/s^2
Therefore, the astronaut's acceleration is 0.5 m/s^2.