General physics?

Question

At what altitude above the Earth's surface is the acceleration due to gravity equal to g/5?

Please provide an answer i have 2 tries left on Webassign

Answer 1

Since g = G Me / Re ^ 2, ( 1 / 5 ) g = G Me / 5 Re^2

G is the Newton gravity constant,
Me is the mass of the Earth, and
Re is the radius of the Earth

So the distance from the center of the Earth would be sqrt ( 5 ) times the radius of the Earth. To get the altitude, subtract Re from that value.