Imagine a landing craft approaching the surface of callisto, one of jupiter's moons. if the engine provides an upward force (thrust) of 3264 n, the craft descends at constant speed; if the engine provides only 2203 n, the craft accelerates downward at 0.39 m/s2. what is the weight of the landing craft in the vicinity of callisto's surface?

Draw a diagram to illustrate the problem as shown below.

g = gravitational acceleration, m/s², on Callisto

m = mass of craft, kg

Case 1: The craft descends at a constant speed when F = 3264 N.

There is no acceleration, therefore

mg = 3264 (1)

Case 2: The craft accelerates down at 0.39 m/s² when F = 2203 N.

mg - 2203 = m*0.39 (2)

From (1), obtain

3264 - 2203 = 0.39m

m = 1061/0.39 = 2720.5 kg

From (1),

g = 3264/2720.5 = 1.2 m/s²

The weight of the craft is

mg = 2720.5*1.2 = 3264 N, as expected.

Answer:

The weight of the craft is 3264 N

The mass of the craft is 2720.5 kg

The gravitational acceleration is 1.2 m/s²