Asked by Miss Angie


THIS IS A QUESTION IN MY PHYSICS BOOK & I REALLY REALLY NEED HELP. I AM 48YRS OF AGE JUST DECIDED TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND HONESTLY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT PHYSICS.

Two facts: A freely falling object at Earth’s surface drops vertically 5 m in 1 s. Earth’s curvature “drops” 5 m for each 8-km tangent. Discuss how these two facts relate to the 8-km/s speed necessary to orbit Earth.


Answered by Steve
an object in orbit is constantly falling toward the earth. However, its lateral motion takes it away from falling directly down, and by the time it has moved sideways, the curvature of the earth makes the surface farther away. At the right speed, the surface recedes at the same speed the object is falling, so it never hits.
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