Solar shield
A crazy scientist thinks he found the solution to the global warming. He wants to send a circular plate with the surface of an American football pitch into space, in order to shield the Earth from the sunlight. The disk has a radius of 41,3 meters. Assuming that the disk is perfectly perpendicular in regard to the Sun-Earth axis, and that the rays that hit the Earth depart from a single point (not a surface) at which distance from the Sun should the scientist place it?
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1 solution
The distance of the Earth from the Sun is 149,6 million km, and the Earth's radius is 6371 km. Therefore, the inclination the sunlight's maximum angle of incidence is 2,44*10^(-6) degrees. To cover that angle, the plate should be placed at 17000 km from the Sun, at which distance it would burn out instantly.