All Problems

Electromagnetic Waves. Radiation

Problem 4.224

Assuming a particle to have the form of a ball and to absorb all incident light, find the radius of a particle for which its gravitational attraction to the Sun is counterbalanced by the force that light exerts on it. The power of light radiated by the Sun equals \(P=4 \cdot 10^{26} \mathrm{~W},\) and the density of the particle is \(\rho=1.0 \mathrm{~g} / \mathrm{cm}^{3}\)

Reveal Answer
R=3P/16πcγρMC0.6μmR=3 P / 16 \pi c \gamma \rho M_{C} \approx 0.6 \mu \mathrm{m}