Some people have proposed building a giant elevator from Earth's surface to geosynchronous orbit. The top of the elevator would then have the same orbital distance and period as any satellite in geosynchronous orbit. Suppose you were to let go of an object at the top of the elevator. Would the object fall? Would it orbit Earth? Explain.

Answer 1

In the tower, the object would already be rotating around the earth once per day. Once released, it would have the correct speed of a geosynchronpus satellite. It would orbit the Earth and not "fall". The gravity force upon it would provide the centripetal force needed to keep it in a circular orbit.