Neutron stars, such as the one at the center of the Crab Nebula, have about the
ID: 1357148 • Letter: N
Question
Neutron stars, such as the one at the center of the Crab Nebula, have about the same mass as our sun but a much smaller diameter.
If you weigh 690 N on the earth, what would be your weight on the surface of a neutron star that has the same mass as our sun and a diameter of 21.0 km ?
Take the mass of the sun to be ms = 1.99×1030 kg , the gravitational constant to be G = 6.67×1011 Nm2/kg2 , and the acceleration due to gravity at the earth's surface to be g = 9.810 m/s2 .
Express your weight wstar in newtons.
Explanation / Answer
weight on earth
W = m g
m = W / g
= 690 / 9.8
= 70.408 kg
if the person with mass m = 70.408 is om the surface of the nuetron star then the gravitational force of attraction between person and the nuetron star will be
Fg = G m1 m2 / r2
where
G = 6.67×1011 Nm2 / kg2
m1 = 70.408 kg,
m2 = 1.99×1030 kg
r = 10.5 km
Fg = = m1 g
m1 g = G m1 m2 / r2
the acceleration on the surface of neutron star is
g = G m2 / r2
= (6.67×1011) (1.99×1030) / (10.5 x 103)2
= ......... m / s2
the weight on the neutron star will be
W = (m2) g
= ......... N