How did clair patterson determine the age of earth

What are two different ways you could find the value of a? explain these methods.

Simon is writing a story about an astronaut whose spacecraft has been boarded by space pirates. the astronaut has her lucky penny in her hand behind her back as the space pirates break into the control room. she has just locked the controls so that the ship is accelerating in the direction of the control room’s ceiling. simon wants the astronaut to use the penny to hit a button on the control panel to turn off the lights and escape. the button is located a short distance behind and below the astronaut’s hands. how should simon use the theory of relativity to describe what the astronaut must do in order to hit the button?

The friction of the water on a boat produces an acceleration of -10. m/s2. if the boat is traveling at 30. m/s and the motor is shut off, how long it take the boat to slow down to 5.0 m/s?