Question

A hot air balloon of total mass M (including passengers and luggage) is moving with a downward acceleration of magnitude a. As it approaches a mountain, the captain needs to accelerate upwards. He decides to throw enough ballast over board to achieve an upward acceleration of magnitude a/2. What fraction of the initial mass does he have to drop? Assume the upward lift force exerted by the air on the balloon does not change because of the decrease in mass.

Answer 1

Answer:

The fraction of mass that was thrown out is calculated by the following Formula:

M - m = (3a/2)/(g²- (a²/2) - (ag/2))

Explanation:

We know that Force on a moving object is equal to the product of its mass and acceleration given as:

F = ma

And there is gravitational force always acting on an object in the downward direction which is equal to g = 9.8 ms⁻²

Here as a convention we will use positive sign with acceleration to represent downward acceleration and negative sign with acceleration represent upward acceleration.

Case 1:

Hot balloon of mass = M

acceleration = a

Upward force due to hot air = F = constant

Gravitational force downwards = Mg

Net force on balloon is given as:

Ma = Gravitational force - Upward Force                              

Ma = Mg - F                      (balloon is moving downwards so Mg > F)

F = Mg - Ma

F = M (g-a)

M = F/(g-a)

Case 2:

After the ballast has thrown out,the new mass is m. The new acceleration is -a/2 in the upward direction:

Net Force is given as:

-m(a/2) = mg - F        (Balloon is moving upwards so F > mg)

F = mg + m(a/2)

F = m(g + (a/2))

m = F/(g + (a/2))

Calculating the fraction of the initial mass dropped:

$M-m = \frac{F}{g-a} - \frac{F}{g+\frac{a}{2} }\\M-m = F*[\frac{1}{g-a} - \frac{1}{g+\frac{a}{2} }]\\M-m = F*[\frac{(g+(a/2)) - (g-a)}{(g-a)(g+(a/2))} ]\\M-m = F*[\frac{g+(a/2) - g + a)}{(g-a)(g+(a/2))} ]\\M-m = F*[\frac{(3a/2)}{g^{2}-\frac{a^{2}}{2}-\frac{ag}{2}} ]$