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Homework Statement
A group of folks are riding in a hot air balloon 60 m above the ground. The total mass of the balloon and its occupants is 300 kg. The balloon is stationary in the air due to the upward buoyant force of the hot air. Do a free body diagram of the balloon. If the buoyant force remains constant what mass of sand must be thrown overboard so that the balloon acquires an upward acceleration of 5m/s^2?
Homework Equations
[tex] F=ma [/tex]
The Attempt at a Solution
I would like to preface this by saying that this is a calculus based physics course, so I may need to use calculus here to figure this out, but I am not sure and the instructor said we would only need F=ma to do all the problems, anyway here is my logic, which doesn't end well.
If the balloon is being keep at a constant level of 60 m about the ground then there must be a constant upward acceleration of 10m/s^2 to fight the gravitational constant of -10m/s^2 (we are rounding here for this first assignment, I know 9.8m/s^2 is closer to what it really is), so the hot air buoyant force must be:
[tex] F=(300)(10)=3000N=3kN [/tex]
so, as the problem states, the 3kN is constant and the new acceleration of .5 m/s^2 should also be constant in the equation:
[tex] 3000=m(.5) \;\; or \;\; m=\frac {F}{a} [/tex]
which would give me a mass of 6000kg, which is obviously wrong, they are looking for the change in mass which implies derivative I would think. Would that be the correct way to think about it? I have been trying to figure it out for a couple hours today, thanks for any guidance!
Edit__________________________________________
And if so would the derivative be:
[tex] F'=ma'+am' [/tex]
?
If not please show me the way to get there, or where i should start, thanks again!
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