#2a. As the result of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) on the sun (see internet web

Question

#2a. As the result of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) on the sun (see internet website http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/sunearthsystem/main/News080210-cme.html for an example of a CME) a spherical metallic satellite, 6.50 m in diameter, acquired a surface charge density of -980 x 106 C/m2 in one orbit of the earth. Unfortunately, this excess electrical charge caused the satellite to stop working!!

Based on this charge density, approximately how many excess electrons did the satellite accumulate during the exposure? Give your answer in the form of "a.bc x 10^(x)" electrons.

Explanation / Answer

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As the result of a coronal mass ejection (CME) on the sun (see internet website http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/sunearthsyste/main/News080210-cme.html for an example of a CME) a spherical metallic satellite, 3.90 m in diameter, acquired a surface charge density of -8.85 x 103 C/m2 in one orbit of the earth. Unfortunately, this caused the satellite to stop working!! Based on the charge density, approximately how many excess electrons did the satellite accumulate during the orbit? Give your answer in the form of "a.bc x 10^(x)" electrons.   

answer

We proceed as follows. The surface area of the satellite is:

(SA = 4pi(3.92/2)^{2} = 48.3 )

The total charge on the surface of the satellite is:

(Q = qSA = (-8.85*10^{3})(48.3) = -4.27*10^{5})

The number of electrons is thus:

(n = Q/c = (-4.27*10^{5})/(-1.6*10^{19}) = 2.67*10^{24} electrons)

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