Question

One hazard of space travel is debris left by previous missions. There are several thousand masses large enough to detect by radar orbiting the earth, but there are far greater numbers of very small masses such as flakes of paint. Calculate the force exerted by a 0.140 mg chip of paint that strikes a space shuttle window at a relative speed of 5.00 ✕ 103 m/s and sticks, given the collision lasts 6.00 ✕ 10-8 s. Such a collision chipped the window of the ill-fated Challenger in June 1983, causing $50,000 of damage.

____ N

Answer 1

Given:

Mass of chip of paint, m = 0.140 mg = 0.140 x 10-6 kg

Relative speed of chip of paint, dv = 5.00 x 103 m/s

Duration of collision, t = 6.00 x 10-8 s

We know that, impulse = change in momentum

                                Ft = m x dv

Where, F- force exerted by chip of paint on space shuttle

                F = m x dv/t

                = 0.140 x 10-6 x 5.00 x 103 /6.00 x 10-8

                F = 11.67 x 103 N

Answer: force exerted by chip of paint on space shuttle, F = 11.67 x 103 N