Question

An astronaut standing on the surface of the moon throws a ball upwards. The ball would:

• A. directly fall down from the point it is released
• B. hang in space
• C. go up and then come back to the surface of the moon
• D. keep going up never to come back

Answer 1

The correct option is C go up and then come back to the surface of the moon

The acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the Moon is 1.62519(412) $m/s^2$, about 16.6% that on Earth's surface. Over the entire surface, the variation in gravitational acceleration is about 0.0253 $m/s^2$ (1.6% of the acceleration due to gravity). Because weight is directly dependent upon gravitational acceleration, things on the Moon will weigh only 16.6% of what they weigh on the Earth.
Hence, the ball will go up and then come back to the surface of the moon.