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.
6 answers
Ms. Sue this was a question in my Physics book
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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Well, I'm not always on line, but there are several very good math folks here, and I'm sure one of us will see your postings.