If a rocket with a mass of 3500 tons vertically accelerates at a rate of # 1/5 m/s^2#, how much power will the rocket have to exert to maintain its acceleration at 6 seconds?

1 Answer
Nov 23, 2017

The power is #=42MW#

Explanation:

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

The acceleration is #a=1/5ms^-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+0.2)=35000000N#

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

The velocity after #t=6s# is

#v=u+at=0+0.2*6=1.2ms^-1#

The power is

#P=Fv=35000000*1.2=42000000W=42000kW=42MW#