Chapter Three Homework

Question

Suppose an astronaut has landed on Mars. Fully equipped, the astronaut has a mass of 128 kg, and when the astronaut gets on a scale, the reading is 472 N. What is the acceleration (in m/s²) due to gravity on Mars?

 m/s²

Answer 1

Newton's second law states that force equals mass times acceleration (F = ma) so, in this case, the force of gravity (weight) equals mass times the acceleration due to gravity (a) or:

472 = 128a

472/128 = a

a = 3.69 m/s²