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    Questions: Gravitational Force

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    Diya
    The document summarizes information about the Schiaparelli spacecraft that was sent to Mars in 2016. It describes how the spacecraft slowed down through Mars' atmosphere due to gravitational and air resistance forces. After opening its parachute, air resistance increased and terminal velocity was reached when forces balanced. It then calculates the spacecraft's speed before hitting the surface from its speed of 0.45 m/s at a height of 2.0 m, using Mars' gravitational acceleration of 3.4 m/s^2. Mars has a lower gravitational field strength than Earth due to its lower mass.

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    Questions: Gravitational Force

    Uploaded by

    Diya
    3K views2 pages
    The document summarizes information about the Schiaparelli spacecraft that was sent to Mars in 2016. It describes how the spacecraft slowed down through Mars' atmosphere due to gravitational and air resistance forces. After opening its parachute, air resistance increased and terminal velocity was reached when forces balanced. It then calculates the spacecraft's speed before hitting the surface from its speed of 0.45 m/s at a height of 2.0 m, using Mars' gravitational acceleration of 3.4 m/s^2. Mars has a lower gravitational field strength than Earth due to its lower mass.

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    Level B

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    The document summarizes information about the Schiaparelli spacecraft that was sent to Mars in 2016. It describes how the spacecraft slowed down through Mars' atmosphere due to gravitational and air resistance forces. After opening its parachute, air resistance increased and terminal velocity was reached when forces balanced. It then calculates the spacecraft's speed before hitting the surface from its speed of 0.45 m/s at a height of 2.0 m, using Mars' gravitational acceleration of 3.4 m/s^2. Mars has a lower gravitational field strength than Earth due to its lower mass.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    3K views2 pages

    Questions: Gravitational Force

    Uploaded by

    Diya
    The document summarizes information about the Schiaparelli spacecraft that was sent to Mars in 2016. It describes how the spacecraft slowed down through Mars' atmosphere due to gravitational and air resistance forces. After opening its parachute, air resistance increased and terminal velocity was reached when forces balanced. It then calculates the spacecraft's speed before hitting the surface from its speed of 0.45 m/s at a height of 2.0 m, using Mars' gravitational acceleration of 3.4 m/s^2. Mars has a lower gravitational field strength than Earth due to its lower mass.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Questions

    Q1.
     
    Schiaparelli is a spacecraft that was sent to Mars in 2016.
    (a)  Schiaparelli slowed down as it fell vertically through the atmosphere of Mars.
    (i)  Draw labelled arrows on the diagram to show the forces acting on Schiaparelli as it fell.
    (3)

    Gravitational Force

    (ii)  Schiaparelli then opened a parachute to slow down.


    Explain how the spacecraft reached a low terminal velocity after opening its parachute.
    Use ideas about forces in your answer.
    (4)
    Air resistance increases when the parachute is opened and the resultant force is upwards. Eventually,
    the speed decreases, and the air resistance decreases too. It reaches terminal velocity when all the
    forces are balanced.
    (b)  The parachute was disconnected when Schiaparelli was at a height of 2.0 m from the surface of Mars
    and traveling at a speed of 0.45 m/s.
    Calculate the speed of the spacecraft just before it hits the surface of Mars.
    [acceleration of free-fall on Mars = 3.4 m/s2]
    (4)

    v^2 = u^2 + 2as


    = (0.45)2 + 2(3.4)(2)
    = 13.8025
    v = 3.72 m/s

    speed = 3.72 m/s


    (c)  Suggest why Mars has a lower gravitational field strength than Earth.
    (1)
    Mars has lower mass than Earth.
     
    (Total for question = 12 marks)
     

    Mark Scheme
    Q1.
     

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