Question

An astronaut is piloting her spacecraft toward the international space station. to stop the spacecraft, she fires the retro-rockets, which cause the spacecraft to slow down from 20.0m/s [e] to 0.0m/s in 12 second

Answer 1

The physics question deals with deceleration of a spacecraft using retro-rockets, from 20.0 m/s [e] to 0.0 m/s in 12 seconds, reflecting concepts of acceleration, velocity, and Newton's laws of motion.

Step-by-step explanation:

Acceleration and Deceleration in Space

The question involves an astronaut piloting a spacecraft towards the International Space Station and using retro-rockets to decelerate from 20.0 m/s to 0.0 m/s in 12 seconds. This is a classic physics problem involving concepts such as acceleration, velocity, and Newton's laws of motion.

When the astronaut fires the retro-rockets, a deceleration is caused, which can be calculated using the formula a = Δv / Δt, where Δv is the change in velocity and Δt is the change in time. In this case, the astronaut's deceleration can be calculated as a = (0 m/s - 20 m/s) / 12 s, which equals -1.67 m/s² (negative indicates deceleration). This concept also ties to the conservation of momentum and the role of thrust in space navigation.