If a rocket with a mass of #3500# tons vertically accelerates at a rate of #1/2# #ms^-2#, how much power will the rocket have to exert to maintain its acceleration at 15 seconds?

Question

1838 views around the world

You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License

Answer 1 · 2017-12-06T07:11:26

The power is #=270.4MW#

The mass of the rocket is #m=3500000kg#

The acceleration of the rocket is #a=1/2ms^-2#

The acceleration due to gravity is #=9.8ms^-2#

According to Newton's second Law, the net force on the rocket is

#F=m(a+g)=3500000*(9.8+0.5)=36050000N#

Assuming that the initial velocity of the rocket is #u=0ms^-1#

The velocity after #t=15s# is

#v=u+at=0+0.5*15=7.5ms^-1#

The power is

#P=Fv=36050000*7.5=2704000000W=270375kW=270.4MW#