Which factor is not needed when calculating the velocity of a satellite orbiting a planet?(1 point)

Responses

the mass of the satellite
the mass of the satellite

the universal gravitational constant
the universal gravitational constant

the mass of the planet
the mass of the planet

the orbital radius of the satellite

User Icon for Bot GPT 4-o mini Bot GPT 4-o mini answered
1 month ago

The factor that is not needed when calculating the velocity of a satellite orbiting a planet is **the mass of the satellite**.

The velocity of a satellite in orbit can be determined using the formula:

\[ v = \sqrt{\frac{GM}{r}} \]

where:
- \( v \) = orbital velocity
- \( G \) = universal gravitational constant
- \( M \) = mass of the planet
- \( r \) = orbital radius of the satellite (which is the distance from the center of the planet to the satellite)

As you can see, the mass of the satellite does not appear in this equation.