How Does Gravity on a Foreign Planet Affect Movement and Physics?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a physics problem involving gravitational effects on a distant planet, specifically focusing on the movement of a box under different gravitational conditions. The problem includes calculations related to the mass of the planet, acceleration due to gravity, maximum height of an object thrown upwards, and the time the object remains in the air.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the calculations needed to determine the mass of the planet and the acceleration due to gravity. Some express uncertainty about their answers and question the assumptions made regarding the forces involved. Others suggest considering energy concepts and the interpretation of the phrase "as hard as he can" in relation to the initial velocity of the throw.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the problem, sharing their calculations and expressing doubts about their answers. Some guidance has been offered regarding the interpretation of forces and energy, but there is no explicit consensus on the correct approach or final answers.

Contextual Notes

There is mention of the need for units in the calculations, and some participants are unsure about the mass of the Earth, which affects their ability to calculate the mass of the foreign planet. The problem's constraints and the interpretation of the throwing motion are also under discussion.

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A colonist on a distant planet with a radius 0.92 times the Earth's is pulling on a box of mass 12 kg across the floor. The coefficient of static friction between the box and the floor is 0.70. He has to pull with a force of greater than 73N to start the box moving.
a) Determine the mass of the planet.
b) Determine the acceleration due to gravity of an object in free fall near the surface of the planet.
c) On the earth, if the colonist were to throw the box directly upward as hard as he could, it would reach a maximum height of 6.3m. How high would the box go if he threw it on this planet?
d) What is the total time this box would be in the air? How does this compare to the time in the air if thrown upwards on the surface of the earth?

Here are my answers, but I am not sure about all of the answers.
a)4.5*10^24
b)8.7
Not sure here
c)5.6
Really not sure here
d)2.269 and for the second part i have no idea what's flying.

Thanks for all your help in advance
 
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blaster0 said:
A colonist on a distant planet with a radius 0.92 times the Earth's is pulling on a box of mass 12 kg across the floor. The coefficient of static friction between the box and the floor is 0.70. He has to pull with a force of greater than 73N to start the box moving.
a) Determine the mass of the planet.
b) Determine the acceleration due to gravity of an object in free fall near the surface of the planet.
c) On the earth, if the colonist were to throw the box directly upward as hard as he could, it would reach a maximum height of 6.3m. How high would the box go if he threw it on this planet?
d) What is the total time this box would be in the air? How does this compare to the time in the air if thrown upwards on the surface of the earth?

Here are my answers, but I am not sure about all of the answers.
a)4.5*10^24
b)8.7
Not sure here
c)5.6
Really not sure here
d)2.269 and for the second part i have no idea what's flying.

Thanks for all your help in advance

I did not check a) because I don't remember the mass of the Earth and I don't know what you did to get it. b) looks OK. c) does not. If b) is correct it should go higher on the foreign planet. For d) think about it a bit more after you get c) You should be able to find how long it takes an object to reach maximum height when you know the maximum height.

By the way, all of your answers are wrong until you supply the units.
 
I know I have the units and thanks for spotting the stupid 5.6 mistake. I'll get back to you tonight to tel if I got it.

By the way mass of planet is gotten from Fg=GMm/r^2
Where in this caser I will know Gmr and Fg
Fg=N
f=mu*N
N=f/mu
here is 73/0.70
=104.286
and in the end M should come out to what I said.

Thanks again
 
blaster0 said:
I know I have the units and thanks for spotting the stupid 5.6 mistake. I'll get back to you tonight to tel if I got it.

By the way mass of planet is gotten from Fg=GMm/r^2
Where in this caser I will know Gmr and Fg
Fg=N
f=mu*N
N=f/mu
here is 73/0.70
=104.286
and in the end M should come out to what I said.

Thanks again
That's fine. You could also deduce the ratio of the mass of the planet to the mass of the Earth from the ratio of the normal force on the planet to the normal force on Earth since you know the ratio of the radii. There is often more than one way to get there.
 
ok new issue with this question my time comes out to be 2.556 seconds, it seems that the man is throwing it so it moves parabolically, some of my friends have different answers so if u could help that'd be great
 
blaster0 said:
ok new issue with this question my time comes out to be 2.556 seconds, it seems that the man is throwing it so it moves parabolically, some of my friends have different answers so if u could help that'd be great
The problem says straight up. I don't think parabolic motion is an issue. What may be an issue is interpretation of "as hard as he can". One might assume that means the same initial velocity, but I suspect that is not what it means. If the man can apply a certain amount of force for a certain distance on earth, he should be able to do the same on the planet. I would assume he does the same amount of work on the object in either case. It then becomes a question of energy, which is fortunate becaue you don't know how high the release point is anyway so knowing the release velocity would not be enough to solve the problem.
 

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