The orbit of a Moon about its planet is approximately circular, with a mean radius of

Question

2.24 × 10
8 m. It takes 35.5 days for the Moon
to complete one revolution about the planet.
Find the mean orbital speed of the Moon.
Answer in units of m/s

Find the Moon’s centripetal acceleration.
Answer in units of m/s
2

Answer 1

The mean orbital speed of the Moon is:

(2.24 x 10^8 m) / (35.5 days x 24 hours/day x 60 minutes/hour x 60 seconds/minute) = 1.022 x 10^3 m/s

The Moon's centripetal acceleration is:

(1.022 x 10^3 m/s)^2 / (2.24 x 10^8 m) = 4.5 x 10^-5 m/s^2