Question

A satellite orbiting at an elevation of 3200 km does what

a) Stays beyond the earth's gravity, which is why it stays up there.

B) in an elliptical orbit, since its speed is less than the escape velocity.

C) Falling toward earth with an acceleration equal to g.

D) Falling toward earth with an acceleration less than g.

Answer 1

Try to think this through yourself.

The satellite is certainly not out of the range of the earth's gravity (A) is wrong.

The orbit is circular if the altitude remains 3200 km. (B) is therefore wrong.

The satellite experiences an acceleration less than g = 9.8 m/s^2 because it is farther from the center of the Earth than it would be at zero altitude. (C) is therefore wrong.

The answer is (D).

Answer 2

thanks so much