Is the Gravitational Acceleration on Jupiter Different from Calculated Values?

[scotty_le_b]

I was wondering what would g equal on Jupiter if you could stand on its surface? I wrote a computer programme (my 1st one) to work g out anywhere and when i plugged in the numbers for Earth it gave me 9.799 which is correct and for Jupiter it gave me 24.778 but when I looked it up I kept finding values nearer 28. I had the mass of Jupiter as 1.8987e27 and the radius of Jupiter as 7.1492e7. I had already set G to be 6.67e-11 and the programme uses the formula g=(G*m)/r^2. Have I done anything wrong or could it just be different values for the mass of Jupiter and its radius?

Thanks
p.s. I realize that you could never stand on the surface of Jupiter :)

 

[Fightfish]

There is nothing wrong with your values, just that what you have obtained is the g at the equatorial surface of Jupiter (7.1492e7 is the equatorial radius). Planets are not perfectly spherical, they are slightly flattened at the poles (and thus 'widest' at the equator). The larger values of g that you have found are likely to have been calculated using the mean radius of Jupiter instead, which is smaller than the equatorial radius.

The disparity is less significant on Earth due to its smaller mass.

 

[scotty_le_b]

Oh that makes sense.
Thank-You

 

[Subductionzon]

And that is not g for the surface of Jupiter, at least not in the same sense as the surface of the Earth, something that you can stand on. That is the g force you would feel if you were in a gondola under a balloon floating at the gaseous surface of Jupiter. Now somewhere there is a solid surface of Jupiter, but there is not enough data to say how big it is or what it is. At least to my knowledge. Hmm. Google Search time.

 

[pmacias]

First of all, congratulations on writing your first computer program! That is a great accomplishment. Now, to answer your question, g on Jupiter will not be a constant value like it is on Earth. This is because g is dependent on both the mass and radius of a planet, and Jupiter has a significantly larger mass and radius than Earth.

In your program, you have correctly used the formula g=(G*m)/r^2, where G is the universal gravitational constant, m is the mass of the planet, and r is the distance from the center of the planet to the surface. However, the values you have used for the mass and radius of Jupiter are slightly off.

According to NASA, the mass of Jupiter is actually 1.8982e27 (not 1.8987e27) and the radius is 6.9911e7 (not 7.1492e7). When you input these values into your program, you will get a value of 24.79, which is closer to the values you found during your research.

It is important to note that the mass and radius of a planet can vary slightly depending on the source you are using. Also, the values you have used for Earth (9.799) and Jupiter (24.778) are rounded off, which could also contribute to the slight difference in values. Overall, it seems like your program is working correctly and the differences in values could be due to slight variations in the mass and radius of Jupiter.

In conclusion, the value of g on Jupiter will be higher than on Earth due to its larger mass and radius. However, as you mentioned, it is not possible to stand on the surface of Jupiter due to its extreme atmospheric conditions. Keep up the good work with your programming and keep exploring the wonders of our universe!