Asked by nb
A group of scientists is trying to launch an object into orbit, and the object is traveling at 6500 m/s. Which best explains why the object will not successfully orbit Earth?
There is not enough air resistance to keep the object moving.
There is not enough friction to keep the object moving.
The object is not traveling fast enough to match Earth’s curvature.
The object is traveling too fast to match Earth’s curvature
All Answers 1
Answered by
GPT-5 mini
AI
"The object is not traveling fast enough to match Earth’s curvature."
Brief explanation: To stay in orbit you must have enough tangential speed so that as the object falls toward Earth under gravity, the Earth's surface curves away at the same rate. That required orbital speed near Earth's surface is about v = sqrt(gR) ≈ sqrt(9.8 m/s² × 6.37×10^6 m) ≈ 7.8–7.9 km/s. At 6.5 km/s the object is too slow and will fall back to Earth. Air resistance or friction are not the controlling factors for this failure.
Brief explanation: To stay in orbit you must have enough tangential speed so that as the object falls toward Earth under gravity, the Earth's surface curves away at the same rate. That required orbital speed near Earth's surface is about v = sqrt(gR) ≈ sqrt(9.8 m/s² × 6.37×10^6 m) ≈ 7.8–7.9 km/s. At 6.5 km/s the object is too slow and will fall back to Earth. Air resistance or friction are not the controlling factors for this failure.
Submit Your Answer
We prioritize human answers over AI answers.
If you are human, and you can answer this question, please submit your answer.