Note that this Challenge is covered as part of the program start Skype for your community’s Local Team of Mission 10 educators. These Skypes for the Mission 10 communities are being conducted by SSEP National Program Director Dr. Jeff Goldstein through Friday, February 26, 2016.
This blog post is for teachers in the 12 communities across the U.S. that just started SSEP Mission 10 to ISS. You are invited to use this Challenge with your students to get them thinking about the concept of microgravity (the technical name for the phenomenon of ‘weightlessness’). As part of this Challenge, students are asked to submit what they think is an answer in the ‘Leave a Reply’ section below. Please encourage your students to submit answers, so that all students visiting this blog post can see what other Mission 10 students across the U.S. are thinking. Let’s use this blog post as a social media platform for sharing thoughts about microgravity.
[2/23/16 1:00 pm ET update: WOW!! What great comments below already, and the post has only been up for 4 hours! Good thinking everyone:)]
The solution to the Challenge will be posted to this SSEP National Blog on Tuesday, March 1, 2016.
I’ve heard a lot about this weightlessness stuff, with astronauts having a great time floating around in space. So I wanted to find out first hand what’s going on up there. Since they don’t have a spare seat on the next flight to low Earth orbit (at least not yet), I looked far and wide to find an amazingly tall mountain whose peak rises to the Space Station’s altitude in orbit so I could climb up and see for myself.
Station orbits the Earth close to 260 miles (420 km) above sea level, and, by the way, crew and station are zipping along at 4.7 MILES PER SECOND (7.6 km/sec) relative to you sitting there at your computer. Bam. The Station just moved 4.7 miles. Really.
It took some Googling, but I found that really tall mountain! See my mountain in the picture? It accidentally got captured in an old Space Shuttle photo. Mt. Everest is only 5.5 miles (8.8 km) high. MY mountain (Jeff’s Peak) is 260 miles (420 km) high. I found it south of the Land of Make-Believe, down a not too well traveled path. Still, you’d think someone would have noticed it since it’s 47 times higher than Mt. Everest. (Have you ever heard of Jeff’s peak? No? See, nobody knows about it!)
So this week, I’m going to take the time to climb my mountain, and in my hand is my trusty bathroom scale, spring-loaded and guaranteed to be accurate at any altitude. I’ll camp out at the top, and I’ll wait until Space Station flies right by my mountain, so I can look in the windows and see if those lucky astronauts are weightless and floating around.
Here now the challenge—
As soon as I confirm they’re weightless in the Space Station, I’ll step on my bathroom scale to see my weight. If I weigh say 150 lbs when I’m standing on my scale in my bathroom at home, what will I weigh on top of my mountain? **
Hint: You don’t actually need to calculate my weight. I’ll do that in the Solution to the Challenge. Your assignment—if you decide to accept it—is to guess what you think I’ll weigh and why. Hmmmm, lots of possibilities.
Submit your guesses below in the ‘Leave a Reply’ section, and remember to include why you think your guess is correct. Students of ALL ages are welcome to post a guess.
I’ll even give you a week to noodle on this in class, and at home with your parents. I’ll post the answer next Tuesday, March 1, 2016, right here at the SSEP National Blog. See you then, and good luck noodling!
Also – if you want to follow along with the latest news from the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP), you are invited to subscribe to the SSEP National Blog at the bottom of the right column.
[**Metric system note: in the metric system, weight is measured in Newtons (N). 150 lbs is equivalent to 667 Newtons, which is the weight of a 68 kg mass at Earth’s surface.]
The solution to this Challenge was posted Tuesday, March 1, 2016.
The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S., and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with NanoRacks LLC, working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory. SSEP is the first pre-college STEM education program that is both a U.S. national initiative and implemented as an on-orbit commercial space venture.
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), and Subaru of America, Inc., are U.S. National Partners on the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. Magellan Aerospace is a Canadian National Partner on the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program.
I think he would weigh the same because he isn’t getting any lighter. Gravity just isn’t acting as strongly against him.
i think he would weigh 57 pounds because gravity pushes down so the person will weigh a little lighter
I think that if he weigh 150lbs he will weigh less than half of his weight in microgravity so I think that he will weigh about 51.72lbs in microgravity
If he weighs 150 lbs when standing on the scale in his bathroom at home, I believe he will weigh 45 lbs on top of mountain Jeff’s speak. His mountain is 260 miles high and is in space, so i think he would weigh 45 lbs because he is higher up in space.
If he weighs 150 lbs when standing on the scale in his bathroom, I believe he will weigh 45 lbs. His mountain is 260 miles high and is in space, so i think he would weigh 45 lbs because he is higher up in space.
If he weighs 150 pounds on Earth and the Earth’s gravity is stronger than the moon (because the moon has micro gravity) the weight will be a lot lighter. I think he will weigh less than 100 and more than 10, so about 65.
Since Jeff weighs 150 pounds on Earth, he will weigh 75 pounds on top of the mountain.Because he is higher in the air, he will weigh less (specifically half of his weight on the ground).
If he weighs 150 pounds on Earth and the Earth’s gravity is stronger than the moon (because the moon has micro gravity) the weight will be a lot lighter. I think he will weigh less than 100 and more than 10, so about 65.
I think he would still weigh the same. Jeff is still on land, but the astronauts are in space where there is way less gravitational pull . That’s why they are floating and Jeff isn’t.
When analyzing the weight of the body. you have to think of the many factors that contribute to the weight. Density and air pressure are several examples. Calculate all the factors, and you must calculate the changes to the facts as the mountain’s height in increase. Then, you will have your gravity. Mix. in the original weight with the new found gravity, and you will have your new weight
If the man weighs 150 pounds on the Earth’s surface then I believe that he would be weightless at the top of Jeff’s Peak I believe this because the astronauts on the station were weightless and both are at the same altitude. The only thing I could think of that would change this is that the station is moving at 4.7 miles per second and I’m just sitting here typing this and not moving at the same rate as the satellite.
I think he will weigh around 120 pounds on top of the mountain
I believe he will weigh 15 pounds because of the altitude which he was at.
In his bathroom, he weighs 150lb on earth. i think he will weigh less than half om Jeff’s mountain
I feel that your weight will ever so slightly decrease on your mountain. The change will be measurable, but very small, almost to the point of insignificance..
With gaining altitude, you will get farther and farther from the earth, the less pull it has on you, so I believe you become lighter with altitude
I think that if he’s 150lbs on earth, he will be 140 because the thin air and the altitude he is at.
I think that he would weigh less than 140lbs because of how much gravity is pulling down on him.
I think that he will weigh at least 50, because the mountain is in space and in space there is micro gravity.
He will weigh about 65 pounds cause of how high up he is and there is microgravity
He will weigh about 45 to 60 pounds because of how high he is in the microgravity
I think that if he weighs 150 pounds on earth his weight in space will change to 25 pounds.
Jeff will weigh 70 pounds on top of the mountain ,because he is higher in the air the mountain is 260 miles high.
I think Dr.Jeff Goldstein weight will change because if he is at 260 miles away from sea level, and the Earths atmosphere is 300 miles away from earths sea level.I think he will be 15 pounds if he was in space.
Even though February 30 doesn’t exist, I believe he will weigh a lot less (almost nothing) because it’s in space where there is microgravity and there isn’t a very strong gravitational pull, you he will weigh a lot less.
Haha. Nice catch with the date. I didn’t even notice that.
He will weigh about 65 pounds cause of how high up he is and there will be microgravity
Jeff will weigh 70 pounds on the mountain, because he is higher in the air the mountain is 260 miles in the air.
he will weigh about 45 to 60 pounds because how high in microgravity
He will weigh 35 to 60 pounds because of altitude and microgravity.
Even though February 30th doesn’t exist I believe he will weigh less because of how weak the gravitational pull would be on top of the mountain
Good pick up Saylor – we feel silly. Just changed the text to ….. March 1. You mean 2016 is not a double leap year??
-doctorjeff
If this mountain really reaches 260 miles above sea level it should reach far enough into the higher levels of the atmosphere. Concluding that there will be micro gravity, therefore he would weigh less. He should only weight 5-10 pounds less.
I think he will weigh at least 70 pounds because of the microgravity
I think he will weigh less than 150 lbs. because in space/microgravity you will weigh less than you will on Earth.
I believe that once he is on the mountain, he will weigh the same as on earth, but as he stays higher in the atmosphere , his weight will decrease.This being due to the atmosphere thinning.
If his mountain really reached 260 miles, he would be dead because he said all he had was his bathroom scale with him but he would need a oxygen tank.
But, if he didn’t die, he would weigh around 25-65 pounds. Also he would probably lose weight from climbing the mountain.
I think that as he gets higher, his weight will start to decrease do to the loss of gravity. When he gets to the top of the mountain he will weigh about 50 pounds.
If Jeff’s mountain is really 260 miles above sea level , I think that he would weigh about 50lbs. But he may lose weight because of the harsh conditions climbing a mountain.
If he is 150 pounds on Earth, I think when he’s in top of the mountain he will be 75 pounds because 75 is half of 150 and he would weigh less
I think he will weigh 37.5 pounds, because that’s one-fourth of his normal weight. The altitude would cause his weight to drop.
I believe that the higher Jeff moves in the atmosphere the less he will because of micro gravity. Therefore I think he will weigh about less than half of what he weighs on Earth which is 150lbs.
I assume that Jeff will weigh at least 50 lbs, the higher he goes the more weight you lose due to the loss of gravity.
150 Pounds in his bathroom, but when he is in space he weighs less, so he will weigh less than he weighs on earth.
I predict that Jeff will be less than 150lbs. because Gravity isn’t going to act strong on him, and he isn’t going to be any lighter.
Because he weighs 150lbs. on earth, I think Jeff would weigh half of his original weight or less on Jeff’s Mountain. The higher he goes, the less he weighs.
I think he will weigh 50 pounds or less because the air is less dense.
I think he will weigh about 15 or 20 pounds lighter because the gravitational pull is not as strong. There is only micro gravity in space there wouldn’t be as much force pulling him down and this will make his weight seem lighter.
I think the higher he goes, the less he will weigh. He weighed 150lb on earth and will most likely weigh half Jeff’s Mountain. The gravity would eventually get less and less.
I think that he will weigh less because he is a lot higher than being on earth in his bathroom.
Jeff’s Mountain is 260 miles tall. Jeff said he only had a bathroom scale with him. He would eventually need oxygen. He would have needed a space suit and oxygen tank if he wanted to climb it. I predict he would weigh less than 150lbs.
I think that you will weigh 130 pounds in space because you are not very close to Earth but you are in space and I`m guessing that you will weigh half the amount you will weigh on Earth.
I think he will weigh 5 pounds. I believe this because there is little gravity at that high of an elevation and his weight will be different than what it really is on earth.
I believe he will weigh 75 pounds, because that is half his weight, because there is less gravity.
I believe that since the astronauts on the space station are not completely weightless,but close to it (because of micro gravity), that you will lose almost all weight. So 20lbs is my estimation.
I believe that once you get farther away from Earth’s atmosphere, you will start to become more weightless, due to the lack of gravitational force. It doesn’t matter if you weigh a ton, you will be almost weightless in space.