In Larry Niven's science-fiction novel Ringworld, a rigid ring of material rotates about a star. The inhabitants of this ring world live on the starlit inner surface of the ring (where it is always noon). The tangential speed of the ring is 1.15x106 m/s, its radius is 1.6x1011 m, and the star has a mass of 2.1x1032 kg.
a) What is the apparent weight of an inhabitant of Ringworld relative to his weight on Earth?
_________ (apparent weight/Earth weight)
b) What would this ratio be for the same inhabitant if there were no star in the center?
__________ (apparent weight/Earth weight)