Oh Gosh I'm An Idiot
New member
This is a project for my Physics class where I have to calculate and answer the following question:
"An astronaut is orbiting the moon 150km above the surface of the moon. What is the gravitational force of the moon on the astronaut? What is the gravitational force of the earth on the astronaut? Will the gravitational force of the earth on the astronaut change during the orbit? "
I have already calculated the moon on the astronaut, with the formula Fg= G (m1m2/r^2) however for the second part (the earth on the astronaut) I'm not given the distance between the astronaut and the earth.
I have a table already with information about the mass of the earth and the radius of JUST the earth.
I know I need to add the radius of the earth plus the distance between the astronaut and the earth, but what do I need to calculate this distance?
The teacher told us that there was a formula we needed, but I'm still confused what formula she was talking about.
I personally think that due to Newton's third law the Force of the moon would also equal to the force of the earth. But that is simply a guess, and I'm not certain of this.
Also about the last part, about the force changing during orbit, I think that there would be no change since the force would be constant. But I'm assuming and I would also like to hear what is the answer to this.
Thank you in advance
"An astronaut is orbiting the moon 150km above the surface of the moon. What is the gravitational force of the moon on the astronaut? What is the gravitational force of the earth on the astronaut? Will the gravitational force of the earth on the astronaut change during the orbit? "
I have already calculated the moon on the astronaut, with the formula Fg= G (m1m2/r^2) however for the second part (the earth on the astronaut) I'm not given the distance between the astronaut and the earth.
I have a table already with information about the mass of the earth and the radius of JUST the earth.
I know I need to add the radius of the earth plus the distance between the astronaut and the earth, but what do I need to calculate this distance?
The teacher told us that there was a formula we needed, but I'm still confused what formula she was talking about.
I personally think that due to Newton's third law the Force of the moon would also equal to the force of the earth. But that is simply a guess, and I'm not certain of this.
Also about the last part, about the force changing during orbit, I think that there would be no change since the force would be constant. But I'm assuming and I would also like to hear what is the answer to this.
Thank you in advance