If you weighed 100 lbs on Earth, what would you weigh at the upper atmosphere of Jupiter? For reference, Jupiter has a mass that is about 300 times the Earth's mass and a radius that is 10 times the Earth's radius.
A) 10,000 lbs
B) 3,000 lbs
C) 1,000 lbs
D) 300 lbs
E) 30 lbs

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The weight of an object is directly proportional to the mass of the planet it is on and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the object and the center of the planet. Since Jupiter is much more massive than Earth and has a much larger radius, the acceleration due to gravity at its upper atmosphere is much greater than that of Earth. Using the equation of universal gravitation, we can calculate that a 100 lb object on Earth would weigh approximately 300 lbs on Jupiter's surface. However, since we are interested in the upper atmosphere of Jupiter, the distance between the object and the center of the planet would increase, leading to a decrease in weight. Using the inverse square law, we can calculate that the weight of the object at the top of Jupiter's atmosphere would be approximately 1/10th of its weight at the surface, or 30 lbs.

If You Weighed 100 Lbs on Earth, What Would You