A possible means of space flight is to place a perfectly reflecting aluminized sheet into orbit around the Earth and then use the light from the Sun to push this “solar sail.” Suppose a sail of area 6.00 x 105 m2 and mass 6 000 kg is placed in orbit facing the Sun.
(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 108m away? Ignore all gravitational effects, assume that the acceleration calculated in part (b) remains constant, and assume a solar intensity of 1 340 W/m2.