One of the Echo satellites consisted of an inflated spherical aluminum balloon 30 m in diameter and of mass 20 kg. Suppose a meteor having a mass of 9.2 kg passes within 4.4 m of the surface of the satellite. What is the gravitational force on the meteor from the satellite at the closest approach?

Duplicate post. See your later post of the same question.

To calculate the gravitational force between the satellite and the meteor, we can use Newton's law of universal gravitation:

F = (G * m₁ * m₂) / r²

where:
F is the gravitational force,
G is the gravitational constant (approximately 6.67430 x 10⁻¹¹ N m²/kg²),
m₁ is the mass of the satellite,
m₂ is the mass of the meteor, and
r is the distance between the centers of mass of the satellite and the meteor.

Given:
Mass of the satellite (m₁) = 20 kg
Mass of the meteor (m₂) = 9.2 kg
Distance between the satellite and the meteor (r) = 4.4 m

Now, let's calculate the gravitational force using the given values:

F = (6.67430 x 10⁻¹¹ N m²/kg² * 20 kg * 9.2 kg) / (4.4 m)²

Simplifying further:

F = (130.996 N m²/kg²) / (19.36 m²)

Now, divide the numerator by the denominator:

F ≈ 6.77 N

Therefore, the gravitational force on the meteor from the satellite at the closest approach is approximately 6.77 Newtons.