SAT Mathematics Practice Test 3

Questions 30 and 31 refer to the following information.

Planet	Acceleration due to gravity $(m/{\sec^2})$
Mercury	3.6
Venus	8.9
Earth	9.8
Mars	3.8
Jupiter	26.0
Saturn	11.1
Uranus	10.7
Neptune	14.1

The chart above shows approximations of the acceleration due to gravity in meters per second squared

(m/{\sec^2})

for the eight planets in our solar system. The weight of an object on a given planet can be found by using the formula W mg = , where W is the weight of the object measured in newtons, m is the mass of the object measured in kilograms, and g is the acceleration due to gravity on the planet measured in

(m/{\sec^2})

Question : 31 of 58

Marks: +1, -0

An object on Earth has a weight of 150 newtons. On which planet would the same object have an approximate weight of 170 newtons?

Venus
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune

Validate

Solution:

On Earth, the acceleration due to gravity is

9.8m/{sec^2}

.
Thus, for an object with a weight of 150 newtons, the formula

W=mg

becomes

150=m(9.8)

,
which shows that the mass of an object with a weight of 150 newtons on Earth is about 15.3 kilograms.
Substituting this mass into the formula W = mg and now using the weight of 170 newtons gives

170=15.3g

,
which shows that the second planet’s acceleration due to gravity is about

11.1 m/{sec^2}

.
According to the table, this value for the acceleration due to gravity holds on Saturn.
Choices A, C, and D are incorrect.
Using the formula W = mg and the values for g in the table shows that an object with a weight of 170 newtons on these planets would not have the same mass as an object with a weight of 150 newtons on Earth.

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