A satellite has a mass of 100kg and is in an orbit at 2.00 times 10 to the 6th power m. above the surface of the Earth. What is the potential energy of the satellite at this location? What is the magnitude of the gravitational force on the satellite?
2006-12-04 13:33:21 · 1 answers · asked by Kitana 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
The satelltie of mass m orbits at a distance h above the Earth. Ther gravitational potential energy of the satellite can be expressed as
U = -G*M*m/R
where G is the universal gravitation constants, M is the mass of the Earth, m is the mass of the satellite, and R is the distance from the satellite to the center of gravity of the Earth. This means
R = Re + h
where Re is the radius of the Earth.
The magnitude of the gravitational force (|F|) acting on the satellite is then
|F| = G*M*m/R^2
where the variables are the same as above.
2006-12-07 01:48:14 · answer #1 · answered by stever 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋