• Want to help us with this year's BoS Trials?
    Let us know before 30 June. See this thread for details
  • Looking for HSC notes and resources?
    Check out our Notes & Resources page

Answer this for me (1 Viewer)

jamesfirst

Active Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
2,005
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
A rocket of intial mass 2000tonnes, produces a constant thrust of 8x 10^7 newtons during liftoff by 1500kg of exhaust gas per second
Calculate the net force acting on an 85kg astronaut 30 seconds after liftoff
 

comm-u-nist

New Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2008
Messages
12
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
i think by net force they mean g-forces, which is calculated by (g + a)/(g)

'g' is 9.8 m.s^-2 based on the presumption that we are on earth. as for 'a', the rocket is 1955000 kilograms after thirty seconds. thrust divided by this figure gives us acceleration upwards (F=ma), so just plug the figures into your calculator.

i got 5.175.

answer your question?
 

comm-u-nist

New Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2008
Messages
12
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
or it could be the upwards force of the rocket, (thrust minus weight) minus the weight force of the astronaut. which i will calculate now.
 

comm-u-nist

New Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2008
Messages
12
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
60838354.74 N up. the wording of the question is rather confusing, was there a diagram?
 

K4M1N3

Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2010
Messages
177
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
Ok so we need to find mass after 30 secs = 2000000-(30 x 1500) (on converting to kg)
T = 8x10^7

using the formula:
a = (T-mg)/m
a = 31.12 (to 2 d.p.)

then use F = ma
where m = 85 (mass of astronaut)
a = 31.12 (as we found above)

therefore F = 2645 N :)
 

jamesfirst

Active Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
2,005
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
Oh that was rather simple..

I was thinking along the a = (T-mg)/m

but didn't know what I could do with the acceleration. But what about the gravitational acceleration ??
 

K4M1N3

Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2010
Messages
177
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
Hmmm yeah. I did use 9.8, but not sure if you need to use the acceleration due to gravity at a specific height after 30s. How many marks was the question?
 

jamesfirst

Active Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
2,005
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
4


I think you're right. There's no fault in the working... (I think).
 

hscishard

Active Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2009
Messages
2,033
Location
study room...maybe
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
Hmmm...getting confused by the answers made by other people

Forces acting on an astronaut are the ground reaction force (more like the rocket floor reaction force) and the force on the person produced from the force on the rocket.

Letting acceleration due to gravity remain constant (9.8) throughout it's flight, I got 3478.22 N
 

Fizzy_Cyst

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
1,189
Location
Parramatta, NSW
Gender
Male
HSC
2001
Uni Grad
2005
A rocket of intial mass 2000tonnes, produces a constant thrust of 8x 10^7 newtons during liftoff by 1500kg of exhaust gas per second
Calculate the net force acting on an 85kg astronaut 30 seconds after liftoff
Initial Weight Force:
= 2x10^6kg x 9.8
= 1.96x10^7N down

Weight Force after 30s:
= 1.96x10^7 - (1500*30*9.8)
= 1.9159x10^7N down

Thrust force:
= 8x10^7N up

Net Force:
= 8x10^7 - (1.9159x10^7)
= 6.0841x10^7N up

acceleration of rocket:
= Fnet/m
= 60.841x10^6/(2,000,000-(1500*30))
= 31.12ms-2 up

Fnet on astro:
= ma
= 85 * 31.12
= 2645.2N up

This is assuming constant 'g'
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top