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A Level Satellites/Gravity related question.. Check my method please?
Explorer 38 has a mass of 200kg and circles the earth in orbit 1.5 times the radius of the earth. Taking g=9.8N/kg on the surface and no other information, use ratios to calculate the force in Newtons pulling on the satellite when placed in this orbit.
So would I multiply g by 1.5 to account for the greater radius and then multiply that by 200/6x10^24 (mass of earth) to get 4.9x10^22N?
It just seems really small to me
1 Answer
- MorningfoxLv 78 years agoFavorite Answer
Wow! a force of 4.9 x 10^22N would be more than enormous! That would be more than whole continents pressing down.
At the surface of the Earth, radius = 1 and gravity = g. At orbit altitude, gravity = g / 1.5^2. Then force = mass * (g / 1.5^2). The force is 871 N, a much more reasonable value.
