Question

Calculate the force of earth's gravity on a spacecraft 2.00 earth radii above the earth's surface if its mass is 1600 kg .

Answer 1

Since the distance from the center of the Earth is doubled (2 earth radii), the value of the force of attraction would then be reduced by four times, so it would become one-fourth.

So calculating for the force if the gravity is reduced four times and if its mass is 1600 kg:

Force = 1600x(9.8/4) N = 3920 N