The IKAROS spacecraft, launched in 2010, was designed to test the feasibility of solar sails for spacecraft propulsion. These large, ultralight sails are pushed on by the force of light from the sun, so the spacecraft doesn't need to carry any fuel. The force on IKAROS's sails was measured to be 1.12 mN. If this were the only force acting on the 290 kg spacecraft, by how much would its speed increase after 3.0 months of flight? Assume there are 30 days in each month.

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Answer:

increase in speed, Δv = 30.0m/s

Explanation:

Given:

Force on the spacecraft, F = 1.12 x 10⁻³ N,

Mass on spacecraft, m=290 kg

time, Δt = 3 month= 3 x 30 days =90 x 24 x 60x 60 seconds = 7776000 s

Now,

the acceleration (a) is given as:

a = F/m = (1.12 x 10⁻³)/290 = 3.86 x 10⁻⁶ m/s²

Applying Newton's equation of motion

v = u +aΔt

where,

v is the final velocity of the spacecraft after 3 months

u is the velocity  of the spacecraft initially

v - u = (3.86 x 10⁻⁶) x 7776000

Δv = 30.0 m/s

The IKAROS spacecraft, whose mass is 290 kg and experiences a force of 1.12 mN, has a speed increase of 30 m/s after 3.0 months.

The spacecraft, with a mass (m) of 290 kg, experiences a net force (F) of 1.12 mN (1.12 × 10⁻³ N). We can calculate the acceleration (a) of the spacecraft using Newton's second law of motion.

[tex]F = m \times a\\\\a = \frac{F}{m} = \frac{1.12 \times 10^{-3}N }{290kg} = 3.86 \times 10^{-6} m/s^{2}[/tex]

Then, we will convert 3.0 months to seconds using the following conversion factors.

  • 1 month = 30 days
  • 1 day = 24 hours
  • 1 hour = 3600 seconds

[tex]3.0 month \times \frac{30day}{1month} \times \frac{24h}{1day} \times \frac{3600s}{1 h} = 7.8 \times 10^{6} s[/tex]

The spacecraft experiences an acceleration of 3.86 × 10⁻⁶ m/s² for 7.8 × 10⁶ s. We can calculate the increase in the speed (Δv) using the definition of acceleration.

[tex]a = \frac{\Delta v }{t} \\\\\Delta v = a \times t = 3.86 \times 10^{-6} m/s^{2} \times 7.8 \times 10^{6} s = 30 m/s[/tex]

The IKAROS spacecraft, whose mass is 290 kg and experiences a force of 1.12 mN, has a speed increase of 30 m/s after 3.0 months.

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