The acceleration of gravity at the surface of the moon is approximately 1/6 that at the surface of the earth (9.8 m/s2). what is the weight of an astronaut standing on the moon whose weight on earth is 210 lb?

Answer :

skyluke89
The weight of the astronaut on Earth is:
[tex]W_E = m g_E[/tex]
where m is the mass of the astronaut, which does not change from Earth to the Moon, while gE is the Earth's gravitational acceleration.

On the moon, g is 1/6 of the value of g on Earth:
[tex]g_M = \frac{1}{6} g_E [/tex]
And therefore the weight on the Moon is
[tex]W_M = m g_M = \frac{1}{6} m g_E [/tex]

Dividing the two expressions, we have
[tex] \frac{W_M}{W_E} = \frac{ \frac{1}{6} m g_E}{ m g_E }= \frac{1}{6} [/tex]
So, the ratio between the weight of the astronaut on the moon and on the Earth is 1/6. Since the weight on Earth is [tex]W_E=210 lb[/tex], we can find the weight on the Moon:
[tex]W_M = \frac{1}{6} W_E = \frac{1}{6} (210 lb) =35 lb[/tex]

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