Question

Evidence suggests that there are trillions of dollars' worth of minerals and metals buried in Near Earth Asteroids (the ones that come close to the Earth, not the ones in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter). Many scientists think an asteroid mining mission is easily feasible. Assume one such asteroid has a mass of 4.5 1020 kg and a radius of 600 km.

(a) If an astronaut weighs 850 N on the surface of the Earth, how much would the astronaut weigh on the surface of the asteroid? (answer in N)

(b) What is the gravitational field strength on the surface of the asteroid? (answer in N/kg)

Answer 1

Use Newtons Law of gravity.