People hoping to travel to other worlds are faced with huge challenges. one of the biggest is the time required for a journey. the nearest star is 4.1*1016m away. suppose you had a spacecraft that could accelerate at 1.0 g for two thirds of a year, then continue at a constant speed. (this is far beyond what can be achieved with any known technology.)

Question

Damaris Wong

Physics

3 July, 10:03

People hoping to travel to other worlds are faced with huge challenges. one of the biggest is the time required for a journey. the nearest star is 4.1*1016m away. suppose you had a spacecraft that could accelerate at 1.0 g for two thirds of a year, then continue at a constant speed. (this is far beyond what can be achieved with any known technology.)

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Zachary Rangel · Answer 1

I think the question here is about the initial velocity. If it is, then the working equation to be used is:

x = vt + 0.5at²

where

x is the distance

v is the velocity

t is the time

a is the acceleration

The acceleration due to gravity is 1.0g or 1.0 (9.81 m/s²) = 9.81 m/s². There are approximately 3.154*10⁷ seconds in a year.

4.1*10¹⁶ m = v (2/3 yr * 3.154*10⁷ s/yr) + 0.5 (9.81 m/s²) (2/3 yr * 3.154*10⁷ s/yr) ²

Solving for v,

v = 1,846,769,088 m/s