A Spaceship Captain Lands on an Unknown Planet

question 89

Short Answer

A spaceship captain lands on an unknown planet. Before venturing forth, he needs to find out the acceleration due to gravity on that planet. All he has available to him is some thin light string, a stopwatch, and a small 2.75-kg metal ball (it was a rough landing). So he lets the ball swing from a 1.5-m length of the string, starting at rest, and measures that it takes 1.9 s for it to swing from the place where he released it to the place where it first stops as it reverses direction. What is the acceleration due to gravity on this planet?

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Definitions:

Defense Mechanism

Psychological strategies used unconsciously by individuals to protect themselves from anxiety or to cope with reality.

Unconsciously Attribute

The process of automatically assigning a quality or characteristic to someone or something without being aware of doing so.

Projection

A defense mechanism where one attributes their own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or motives onto another person.

Active Listening

A way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding, characterized by giving full attention and acknowledging the speaker's feelings.