The wiegh of a person on or above he earth surface of the earth varies inversely as the square of the distance the person is from the center of the earth. if a person weighs 180 pounds on the surface of the earth surface and the radius of the earth is 3900 miles what will the person weigh if he or she is 850 miles above the earth's surface? Round your answer to the nearest hundredth if a pound

A. 121.34 lb

B. 121.74 lb

C. 122.74 lb

D. 120.84 lb

Question

Guest

Mathematics

10 January, 13:53

The wiegh of a person on or above he earth surface of the earth varies inversely as the square of the distance the person is from the center of the earth. if a person weighs 180 pounds on the surface of the earth surface and the radius of the earth is 3900 miles what will the person weigh if he or she is 850 miles above the earth's surface? Round your answer to the nearest hundredth if a pound

A. 121.34 lb

B. 121.74 lb

C. 122.74 lb

D. 120.84 lb

+1

Answers (1)

Know the Answer?

Gabriel Cherry · Answer 1

Let w = weight, d = distance

Since w varies inversely with the square of d, w = k/d2, for some constant k.

Use the given information to find k: 180 = k / (3900) ^2

So k = 2,737,800,000

So, w = 2,737,800,000/d^2

If d = 4750, then w = 2,737,800,000/d^2 ≈ 121.3429

So your answer would be A.