what would be the mass required to keep an object with a mass of 250kg orbiting at a constant distance of 100km with a linear velocity of 100m/s?

the linear speed of an orbiting body is given by the equation sqrt(GM/2r) where M is the mass of the attracting body, G is the gravitational constant and r is the distance between the two bodies' centres of mass. The mass of the orbiting body is irrelevant yet is sometimes put into questions as red herrings to truly test the knowledge of students. To solve this all we need to do is rearrange the equation to give us M = 2v2r/G

We know all of the numbers on one side of the equation so all we have to do is plug in the numbers, v = 100m/s r = 100,000m                                G = 6.67x10-11 Nm2kg-2 . so after plugging all of the numbers into the equation we get that the mass required to keep an object orbiting at 100km at 100m/s is 3.0x1019kg or roughly 0.0005 x the mass of the earth 

MA
Answered by Michael A. Physics tutor

1765 Views

See similar Physics A Level tutors

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

An infared wave has a wavelength of 1.5 x10^–6 m. The speed of this wave is 2.2 × 10^8 m/s. Calculate the frequency of the wave. Give your answer in standard form and to 2 significant figures.


Explain the wave - particle duality


A car of mass 800 kg is accelerated horizontally by constant net force of 1920 N for 9 s. It then breaks for 2 s, but drives off a 5 m high cliff. If μ = 0.85, what is the total horizontal distance travelled by car and its velocity? Ignore air resistance.


By referencing the magnetic field and the alternating potential difference explain how a cyclotron produces a beam of high speed particles.


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences