A
particle in the solar system is under the combined influence of the
Sun’s gravitational attraction and the radiation force due to
the sun’s rays. We
may assume that the particle is a sphere of density
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Solution: Click For PDF Version We will use the following astronomical data for answering this problem:
Mass of the
Sun,
Rate of
energy emission from the Sun,
The mass of a
particle of radius
Let the distance to the Sun from the particle be r (m). The force of gravity on the particle due to the Sun will be
As the entire solar radiation incident on the particle is absorbed, the magnitude of the force on the particle due to radiation will be
For this particle to get blown away from the solar system, the gravitational pull on it has to be less than the force due to absorption of solar radiation. We have the condition
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and that the entire incident light is
absorbed. (a) We have
to show that all particles with radius less than some critical radius
will be blown out of the solar system.
(b) We have to calculate
,
.
The
intensity of the solar radiation at the particle will be
.
