Calculating Acceleration of a Solar Sail at a Distance from the Sun

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The discussion revolves around calculating the acceleration of a solar sail located 1.46e8 km from the Sun, with a power output of 10^20 kW and an area of 200 m². The formula f=2IA/c is referenced for determining the force on the sail due to reflected sunlight. There is confusion regarding the variable "D," which is assumed to represent distance, but its definition is unclear. The participants note that the power must be adjusted based on the surface area of a sphere at that distance before applying it to the sail's area. Ultimately, the focus remains on using Newton's second law (f=ma) to find the acceleration, despite the challenges presented in the calculations.
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well doing lots of problems for finals and posting the ones i can't get...again I am havin trouble with this reflection stuff

A solar sail of area A=200m^2 is at a distance 1.46e8 km from the sun. suppose the power of the sun is 10^20 kw and the sail is perfectly reflecting ( think you use f=2IA /c ) mass is 10kg, calculate the accel of the sail at this point in space...


again not sure here... how you get it
 
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Well, I don't know how you get D, because you didn't say what D means!
I would be inclined to think that D means "Distance" but you are explicitely told what that is.

The reason the answer is "real tiny" is that the power 1020 is divided by the surface area of a sphere with radius 1.45x1014km. before be multiplied by the area of the sail to get the power actually delivered to the sail.
 
i dunno, I am confused, lol we just need accel, i was going to use Newtons f=ma
 
Didn't you post a question about the pressure due to reflected light just a few days ago? Several folks answered, but you never responded. The same reasoning would apply here.
 

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