Ceres is a large asteroid that orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Ceres has a mass of 9.4 x 1020 kg and a radius of about 4.7 x 10° m.

If a spacecraft attempts to land on the asteroid, what acceleration due to gravity will it experience near the surface?

Respuesta :

Answer:

The acceleration due to gravity near the surface of Ceres is approximately 0.284 m/s²

Explanation:

The given parameters are;

The mass of Ceres = 9.4 × 10²⁰ kg

The radius of Ceres, r = 4.7 × 10⁶ m

By Newton's law of gravitation, we have;

[tex]Gravitational \ force\ on \ the \ spacecraft \ near \ Ceres, \ F =G\dfrac{m_{1}m_{2}}{r^{2}}[/tex]

Therefore;

[tex]Acceleration \ due \ to \ gravity \ g =G\dfrac{m_{1}}{r^{2}}[/tex]

Where;

m₁ = The mass of Ceres = 9.4 × 10²⁰ kg

m₂ = The mass of the spacecraft

G = 6.6743 × 10⁻¹¹ N·m²/kg²

Substituting the values, we get;

[tex]g \ near \ the \ surface \ of \ Ceres = \dfrac{ 6.6743 \times 10^{-11} \times 9.4 \times 10 ^{20}}{(4.7 \times 10^5)^{2}} \approx 0.284 \ m/s^2[/tex]

The acceleration due to gravity near the surface of Ceres ≈ 0.284 m/s²