If a rocket with a mass of #3500 "tons"# vertically accelerates at a rate of # 8/5 "m/s"^2#, how much power will the rocket have to exert to maintain its acceleration at 12 seconds?

1 Answer
Nov 19, 2017

The power is #=766.1MW#

Explanation:

The mass of the rocket is #m=3500 000kg#

The acceleration is #a=8/5ms^-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+1.6)=39900000N#

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

The velocity after #t=12s# is

#v=u+at=0+12*8/5=19.2ms^-1#

The power is

#P=Fv=39900000*19.2=766100000W=766100kW=766.1MW#