Earth's Accel.: Is 10^(-22)m/s^2 Correct?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Oydpuuodouflj6r9
  • Start date Start date
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
3 replies · 1K views
Oydpuuodouflj6r9
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Homework Statement
A 60-kg person is free-falling from the sky to Earth. What is the acceleration of the Earth of the mass of the Earth is 6*10^24 kg?
Relevant Equations
F=ma
let a be the acceleration of Earth, m=60kg, M=6*10^24 kg, g=10 m/s^2
Ma=F=mg
=> 6*10^24*a=60*10
=> a=10^(-22) m/s^2
is this correct because the answer is a bit strange?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Oydpuuodouflj6r9 said:
Homework Statement:: A 60-kg person is free-falling from the sky to Earth. What is the acceleration of the Earth of the mass of the Earth is 6*10^24 kg?
Relevant Equations:: F=ma

let a be the acceleration of Earth, m=60kg, M=6*10^24 kg, g=10 m/s^2
Ma=F=mg
=> 6*10^24*a=60*10
=> a=10^(-22) m/s^2
is this correct because the answer is a bit strange?
Welcome to PF. There is another equation that may be more appropriate for this question. Do you know of an equation that gives the gravitational attraction between two masses separated by a distance r (to their centers of mass)?

EDIT -- Although as @PeroK is pointing out below, if the person is falling close to the surface of the Earth, the equation that you used may be valid. Does it say anything about how far away from the surface the person is?
 
Oydpuuodouflj6r9 said:
Homework Statement:: A 60-kg person is free-falling from the sky to Earth. What is the acceleration of the Earth of the mass of the Earth is 6*10^24 kg?
Relevant Equations:: F=ma

let a be the acceleration of Earth, m=60kg, M=6*10^24 kg, g=10 m/s^2
Ma=F=mg
=> 6*10^24*a=60*10
=> a=10^(-22) m/s^2
is this correct because the answer is a bit strange?
What is strange about that?
 
Reply
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: berkeman
berkeman said:
Welcome to PF. There is another equation that may be more appropriate for this question. Do you know of an equation that gives the gravitational attraction between two masses separated by a distance r (to their centers of mass)?
I would assume that we can take ##g## to be approximately constant for this problem.