Problem
How long would it take an object to fall a distance of 100 m on Jupiter compared to the Earth? As an indication of the size of the sun's gravitational pull on the Earth, suppose that the sun's gravitational attraction could be replaced by a steel wire running from the sun to the Earth, with the wire's tension holding the Earth in its orbit. Good steel has a breaking stress of 5.0 x 10# N/m/m.
1. Calculate the cross-sectional area of the wire that could just hold the Earth in its orbit.
2. Calculate the corresponding wire diameter.