A powerful searchlight shines on a man. The man's cross-sectional area is 0.500m2 perpendicular to the light beam, and the intensity of the light at his location is 35.5kW/m2. He is wearing black clothing, so that the light incident on him is totally absorbed. What is the magnitude of the force the light beam exerts on the man? Do you think he could sense the force found in part (A)? a. The force is large enough to be felt by the man. b. The force the light beam exerts is much too small to be felt by the man.

The magnitude of the force the light beam exerts on the man is 5.9 x 10⁻⁵N

(b) the force the light beam exerts is much too small to be felt by the man.

Explanation:

Given;

cross-sectional area of the man, A = 0.500m²

intensity of light, I = 35.5kW/m²

If all the incident light were absorbed, the pressure of the incident light on the man can be calculated as follows;

P = I/c

where;

P is the pressure of the incident light

I is the intensity of the incident light

c is the speed of light

F = PA

where;

F is the force of the incident light on the man

P is the pressure of the incident light on the man

A is the cross-sectional area of the man

F = 1.18 x 10⁻⁴ x 0.5 = 5.9 x 10⁻⁵ N

The magnitude of the force the light beam exerts on the man is 5.9 x 10⁻⁵ N

Therefore, the force the light beam exerts is much too small to be felt by the man.