the weight of a person on or above the surface of the earth varies inversely as the square of the distance the person is from the center of the earth. if a person weighs 180 pounds on the surface of the earth and the radius of the earth is 3900 miles, what will the person weigh if he or she is 400 miles above the earth's surface?

Inverse square law means that gravity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance.

W2/W1 = (R1/R2)²

Weight of an astronaut on the surface of the Earth is w1 and his weight on the surface on the moon is w2 . the ratio of w1 / w2 will be

1 point

To solve this problem, you can use the concept of inverse variation and the inverse square law. In this case, the weight of a person varies inversely with the square of the distance from the center of the Earth.

Let's denote the weight of the person on the surface of the Earth as W1, the corresponding distance from the center of the Earth as d1, and the weight of the person when they are 400 miles above the Earth's surface as W2, with the distance from the center of the Earth denoted as d2.

According to the inverse variation formula, we have:

W1 * (d1)^2 = W2 * (d2)^2

Now, let's substitute the given values into the equation:

180 * (3900)^2 = W2 * (3900 + 400)^2

180 * 15210000 = W2 * 4300^2

Now, we can solve for W2:

180 * 15210000 = W2 * 18490000

W2 = (180 * 15210000) / 18490000

W2 ≈ 148.23 pounds

Therefore, if the person is 400 miles above the Earth's surface, they will weigh approximately 148.23 pounds.

134.11 pounds