Question

A: A sol is the term used by scientists to refer to days on Mars. 462.4 Martian sols = 475 Earth days.

Which is longer, a day or a sol?

		Day
		Sol

B: How many hours in a sol? Minutes in a sol? What is the difference in minutes between a day and a sol?

C: How many L of water can 1 L hydrazine actually yield? (given constant temperature and pressure, the density of hydrazine is 1.02g/mL, and the density of water is 1.00g/mL)

D: On page 26 in Chapter 3 Watney thinks “… each liter of hydrazine has enough hydrogen for two liters of water.” There is a huge error Watney’s estimation, what is it?

Answer 1

Answer A:

1. A sol is longer than a day since.
2. This is because 462.4 sols on Mars is equal to 475 days.
3. This means earth will have a shorter day than Mars.

Answer B:

• The difference is 462.4 sols=475 days

1 sol =x days.

Therefore, x= 475*1/462.4=1.027 days

• Therefore, 1 sol is equal to 1.027 days
• Therefore, 1 sol contains 24*1.027 hours=24.65 hours
• Therefore, 1 sol=24.65*60 minutes=1479 minutes.
• A day has 24*60 minutes=1440 minutes
• Therefore, the difference in minutes between a sol and a day =1479-1440=39 minutes.
• Therefore, a sol is 39 minutes longer than a day.

Thank You!