weather satellite in circular orbit around Earth completes one orbit every 5 hours. The radius of Earth is about 6,400 km and the satellite is positioned 4,700 km above the Earth. How far does the satellite travel in 1 hour? Round your answer to the nearest kilometer.
To find out how far the satellite travels in 1 hour, we need to calculate the circumference of the circular orbit the satellite is traveling on.
First, we need to find the radius of the orbit:
radius_of_orbit = radius_of_Earth + height_of_satellite
radius_of_orbit = 6,400 km + 4,700 km
radius_of_orbit = 11,100 km
Next, we can calculate the circumference of the orbit using the formula:
circumference = 2 * π * radius_of_orbit
circumference = 2 * π * 11,100 km
circumference ≈ 69,760 km
Since the satellite completes one orbit every 5 hours, it travels the entire circumference in 5 hours. To find out how far it travels in 1 hour, we can divide the circumference by 5:
distance_in_1_hour ≈ 69,760 km / 5
distance_in_1_hour ≈ 13,952 km
Therefore, the satellite travels approximately 13,952 km in 1 hour.