A space station is in a circulat orbit around the Earth at altitude (h)=5.0x10^2 km. Time for one orbit is 95 minutes. Find the orbital speed and centripetal acceleration.
Use the following values: Radius of the Earth : 6.4x10^6 m.
please i need the work because i have the right answer
2006-10-16 13:56:50 · 2 answers · asked by First L 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
for orbital speed, consider the path that the space station takes as it circles earth. If it has an altitude above earth, add that to the earth's radius to get the total radius of motion. The total path that it follows is a circle, so circumference C = 2*pi*R. Velocity = distance / time, use circumference for the distance and convert 95 minutes to seconds, to get an answer in meters/second.
centripetal acceleration is easy once you have the orbital speed. It follows the equation Ac = V^2 / R, where V is the orbital velocity and R is the radius you used for the first part.
2006-10-16 14:03:00 · answer #1 · answered by resurrection_of_t_o 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Add the radius of the earth to the altitude of the space station to get the radius of the orbit. From there, find the circumference, which is the distance around the earth. Finally, divide the distance by the time to get orbital speed. Recommend you convert minutes to seconds to get your answer in KMS units.
Next, find acceleration using the formula A = v^2/r. The velocity and radius are the values used/found above.
2006-10-16 14:03:54 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋