College Physics with MasteringPhysics 7th Edition by Jerry Wilson,Anthony Buffa,Bo Lou

Exercise 13

In gravity-free interstellar space, a spaceship fires its rockets to speed up. The rockets are programmed to increase thrust from zero to 1.00 × 10 4 N with a linear increase over the course of 18.0 km. Then the thrust decreases linearly back to zero over the next 18.0 km. Assuming the rocket was stationary to start, (a) during which segment will more work (magnitude) be done: (1) the first 60 s, (2) the second 60 s, or (3) the work done is the same in both segments Explain your reasoning.(b) Determine quantitatively how much work is done in each segment.