Assignment:
A possible means of space flight is to place a perfectly reflecting aluminized sheet into Earth's orbit and use the light from the Sun to push this solar sail. Suppose a sail of area 6.00 X 10^4 m^2 and mass 6000 kg is placed in orbit facing the sun. The solar intensity of 1380 W/m^2.
a. What force is exerted on the sail?
b. What is the sail's acceleration?
c. How long does it take the sail to reach the Moon, 3.84 X 10^8 m away? Ignore all gravitational effects and assume that the acceleration calculated in part b remains constant.