A satellite has-recently been placed in a nearly circular orbit
2000 kilometers above the earth’s surface. Given that the
radius of the earth is approximately 6400 kilometers and that
the satellite completes its orbit in 12 hours, calculate the speed
of the satellite in kilometers per hour.
C = 3.14*DIA = 3.14(2*6400) = 40,192km.
V = d/t = 40192km / 12hrs = 3349.3km/hr
To calculate the speed of a satellite in a circular orbit, you can use the formula:
v = 2πr / T
Where:
v is the velocity or speed of the satellite,
π is a constant approximately equal to 3.14159,
r is the radius of the satellite's orbit, and
T is the time it takes for the satellite to complete one orbit.
In this case, the radius of the satellite's orbit is given as 2000 kilometers above the Earth's surface. Since the radius of the Earth is approximately 6400 kilometers, we can calculate the total radius of the satellite's orbit as (6400 + 2000) kilometers = 8400 kilometers.
The time it takes for the satellite to complete one orbit is given as 12 hours.
Now, plug in the values into the formula:
v = 2π(8400) / 12
Simplifying further:
v = 5600π kilometers per hour
To get the numerical value, use the approximation for π as 3.14159:
v ≈ 5600(3.14159) kilometers per hour
v ≈ 17592.93 kilometers per hour
So, the speed of the satellite in kilometers per hour is approximately 17592.93 kilometers per hour.