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Homework Statement
An astronaut enters a rocket ship and gets blasted to another planet. The mass of the planet is 2.5 times as large as the mass of Earth, and the radius is 1.2 times as large as Earth's. If the astronauts scale at home says "60.0kg", what will it say on the new planet? In which case does the scale display his true mass and why?
Homework Equations
F=mg/r^2
The Attempt at a Solution
i was able to find the weight of the astronaut on the new planet without any problems:
m(planet)= m(earth) x 2.5
m(planet)= 1.48x10^25 kg
r(planet)= r(earth) x 1.2
r(planet)= 7.65x10^6m
find mass of astronaut:
F=Gm/r^2
g=Gm/r^2
= (6.67x10^-11)(5.97x10^24)/ (6.38x10^6)^2
=9.8N/kg
m= 60.0kg/ 9.8N/kg
m=6.12N
g= Gm/r^2
= (6.67x10^-11)(1.49x10^25)/ (7.65x10^6)^2
= 16.9 N/kg
W=mg
= (6.12N)(16.9 N/kg)
Therefore the atronaut would read 103.4kg on the scale while on the new planet.
For the second part of the question I'm just a little confussed. It asks which scale displays his true mass, but a scale doesn't display mass, it displays weight. Is this part a trick question?