Reference no: EM132591608

Please answer all of the following questions.

1. A friend says that astronauts in orbit are weightless because they are beyond the pull of Earth's gravity. Do you agree with that friend?
2. An astronaut lands on a planet that has the same mass at the Earth but twice the diameter. How would the weight of the astronaut differ from the weight on Earth?
3. If a piece of an airplane suddenly becomes detached during flight, it will crash to Earth. Would it happen the same to a piece of satellite in orbit?
4. When a satellite is placed into a higher orbit, what happens to its period?
5. Air in a cylinder is compressed to one-tenth of its original volume without change in temperature. What happens to its pressure? Imagine now that a valve is opened in order to restore the initial pressure value. What percentage of the molecules have escaped?
6. Consider a 40,000 km steel pipe in the shape of a ring that fits snuggly all around the circumference of the Earth. We are heating now the ring so its temperature increased by 1 degree C. Now, the pipe will no longer be snug. How high the ring will now stand above ground level? (Make as many simplifications as necessary). Data: Coefficient of linear expansion for steel is 11^*10^-6 /degree C. This means, for example, that a 1-meter bar of steel that increases its temperature by 1 degree C will expand 11^*10^-6 meters (11 micrometers)
7. Farmers resort to spraying fruit trees with water before a frost to protect the fruit from freezing. Using the concepts learned in this module, discuss why this does or does not work.
8. An electric fan not only does not decrease the temperature of the air, but it actually increases air temperature. How can you then explain that you are cooled by a fan on a hot day?