Asked by Juan
At what speed must a satellite of a mass M be launched horizontally at the surface of the earth if it's orbit is to be a circle just grazing the highest mountains?( assume no air resistance). How much time would elapse between successive passes of this imaginary satillite?
Answers
Answered by
bobpursley
Having been a member of the Southwestern Rocket Society in its infant days, we learned that launching rockets horizontally was dangerous.
At the altidude of the highest mountains, say 10^4 meters, then
the gravitational field strength g, is given by
9.8Nt/kg * (re/(re+10^4))^2
look up the radius of the earth re, in meters, and you have that part.
Then that gravational field strength mus be equal to centripetal acceleration, which is
acceleartion= V^2/(re+10^4) where
v is 2PI(re+10^4)/Period
set them equal, solve for Period.
At the altidude of the highest mountains, say 10^4 meters, then
the gravitational field strength g, is given by
9.8Nt/kg * (re/(re+10^4))^2
look up the radius of the earth re, in meters, and you have that part.
Then that gravational field strength mus be equal to centripetal acceleration, which is
acceleartion= V^2/(re+10^4) where
v is 2PI(re+10^4)/Period
set them equal, solve for Period.
There are no AI answers yet. The ability to request AI answers is coming soon!
Submit Your Answer
We prioritize human answers over AI answers.
If you are human, and you can answer this question, please submit your answer.