A polar satellite is launched at 850 km above earth.find its orbital speed
To find the orbital speed of a polar satellite launched at 850 km above Earth, you can use the following equation:
V = √(GM/R)
Where:
- V is the orbital speed
- G is the gravitational constant (approximately 6.67430 x 10^-11 m^3 kg^-1 s^-2)
- M is the mass of the Earth (approximately 5.972 x 10^24 kg)
- R is the distance between the satellite and the center of the Earth (850 km + the radius of the Earth)
First, we need to convert the distance from kilometers to meters:
Distance = 850 km = 850,000 meters
Next, we need to calculate the total distance from the satellite to the center of the Earth:
R = Distance + Radius of the Earth
The radius of the Earth is approximately 6,371 km, which is equal to 6,371,000 meters.
R = 850,000 meters + 6,371,000 meters
Now, we can substitute the values into the equation and calculate the orbital speed:
V = √((6.67430 x 10^-11 m^3 kg^-1 s^-2) * (5.972 x 10^24 kg) / (850,000 meters + 6,371,000 meters))
V = √(4.909166 x 10^14) m^2 s^-2
Finally, we can take the square root of the result to find the orbital speed of the polar satellite.
a. Surely this problem was not given to you by your teacher. 850 km measured where? The radius of Earth at the poles is 22 km less than at the Equator.
b. It matters what kind of orbit. Circular, elliptical? ie, in what direction was it lunched into orbit...parallel to the Earth Surface, or not? What one needs to know, is what kind of orbit, the eccentricity, and where it was when "launched" at 850km above the Earth (where).