An astronaut of mass 120 kg recedes from her spacecraft by activating a small propulsion unit attached to her back. The force generated by a spurt is 30 N. Show that her acceleration is 0.25 m/s2.
F = m*g = 30 N.
120*g = 30
g = 0.25 m/s^2
To show that the astronaut's acceleration is 0.25 m/s^2, we can use Newton's second law of motion, which states that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force applied to it and inversely proportional to its mass.
The formula for Newton's second law is:
F = ma
Where:
F is the net force applied to the object,
m is the mass of the object, and
a is the acceleration of the object.
In this case, the force generated by the spurt is given as 30 N, and the mass of the astronaut is 120 kg.
So we have:
F = 30 N
m = 120 kg
Plugging these values into the equation, we get:
30 N = 120 kg * a
To find the acceleration, we can rearrange the equation to solve for a:
a = F / m
Substituting the given values:
a = 30 N / 120 kg
Now we can calculate the acceleration:
a = 0.25 m/s^2
Therefore, the astronaut's acceleration is 0.25 m/s^2.