Question

Your starship, the Aimless Wanderer, lands on the mysterious planet Mongo. As chief scientist-engineer, you make the following measurements: a 2.50-kg stone thrown upward from the ground at 11.0 m/s returns to the ground in 4.50 s ; the circumference of Mongo at the equator is 2.30×105 km ; and there is no appreciable atmosphere on Mongo.

a) The starship commander, Captain Confusion, asks for the following information: what is the mass of Mongo? (The answer should be 9.82 x 10^25 kg for part a).

b)If the Aimless Wanderer goes into a circular orbit 40,000 km above the surface of Mongo, how many hours will it take the ship to complete one orbit?

Answer 1

Concept - use equation of kinematics to find the acceleration due to gravity on the planet as shown below using the displacement which is zero and initial velocity and the time taken. Use the equation for acceleration due to gravity on the planet surface to find the mass of the planet.

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