Question

Question 3 1pts Which of the following will objects will be the least affected by radiation pressure? Assume all the objects to have a similar surface area. A) A loosely bound cloud of gas with a cumulative mass 2.50x 10-12 kg B) Loosely bound dust grains with a cumulative mass 5.00 x 10-4 kg C) A pebble with a mass 0.217 kg No answer text provided.

Answer 1

Before answering the question, lets first understand what is radiation pressure. it is the pressure (which is force per unit area) exerted by electromagnetic radiation. Formula to calculate it is -

1 x Fi / c or P/t/A

where Fi is the energy flux

c is the speed of light which is constant

and P is the momentum and A is the area.

Since radiation pressure is directly proportion to the momentum. Pebble will have less momentum and will need some external stronger force to move it. Thus it will be least affected by radiation pressure and the correct answer is A i.e. pebble.

I hope the answer is clear to you now, if you have any further query, please leave a comment, i will try my best to solve it for you. Thank you.