Calculating Gravitational Attraction: Force of a 48.9 kg Student on Earth in N

[jojo14]

Earth's gravitational field is 7.95 N/kg at the altitude of the space shuttle.
What is the size of the force of attraction between a student of mass 48.9 kg and Earth?

answer in units of N.

please help, i don't get how to do this!

thanks..

 

[Delphi51]

7.95 N/kg = 7.95 m/s². This is the value of g at the shuttle, a bit smaller than it is at the surface of the Earth.

The force of gravity between two masses like the Earth and the student on the space shuttle is F = GMm/d² where M is the mass of the Earth and m the mass of the student. Often it is convenient to split this formula into two parts. We say F = mg and g = GM/d². It actually turns out that there really is a g field lying between the two masses. The M causes a gravitational field g around itself and the field causes the force on m. Anyway, that's all you need to do your problem!

 

[kerimek]

I am happy to help you with this calculation. To calculate the force of attraction between the student and Earth, we will use the formula F = mg, where F is the force of attraction, m is the mass of the student (48.9 kg in this case), and g is the acceleration due to gravity (7.95 N/kg at the altitude of the space shuttle).

Plugging in the values, we get F = (48.9 kg)(7.95 N/kg) = 388.155 N. Therefore, the force of attraction between the student and Earth is 388.155 N. This means that Earth is pulling on the student with a force of 388.155 N, keeping them firmly on the ground.

It's important to note that this calculation assumes that the student is not moving and is at rest on the surface of the Earth. If the student were in motion, we would need to use a more complex formula that takes into account the mass, velocity, and distance between the student and Earth. But for the purposes of this question, the simple F = mg formula is sufficient.

I hope this helps you understand how to calculate gravitational attraction between objects. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Keep exploring and learning about the world around us!