Imagine a landing craft approaching the surface of the moon of a distant planet. If the engine provides an upward force (thrust) of 2980 N, the craft descends at constant speed; if the engine provides only 2200 N, the craft accelerates downward at 0.46 m/s2.

Question

Imagine a landing craft approaching the surface of the moon of a distant planet. If the engine provides an upward force (thrust) of 2980 N, the craft descends at constant speed; if the engine provides only 2200 N, the craft accelerates downward at 0.46 m/s2.
(a) What is the weight of the landing craft in the vicinity of moon's surface?
  N

(b) What is the mass of the craft?
  kg

(c) What is the magnitude of the free-fall acceleration near the surface of the moon?
  m/s2

bobpursley · Answer

In both cases, thrust=m(g-a) you are given thrust and a in each case, you have two equations, figure "g", and mass m. weight=mg of course.