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What is the period of revolution of a satellite with mass m

that orbits the earth in a circular path of radius 9480 km
(about 3100 km
above the surface of the earth)?
Express your answer in seconds.

asked
User Ldeluca
by
7.8k points

1 Answer

1 vote

To find the period of revolution of a satellite orbiting the Earth in a circular path, we can use the formula:

T = 2π√(r³/GM)

Where:

T is the period of revolution,

r is the radius of the orbit,

G is the gravitational constant (approximately 6.67430 × 10^(-11) m³/(kg·s²)),

M is the mass of the Earth (approximately 5.972 × 10^24 kg).

Given:

Radius of the orbit, r = 9480 km = 9480 × 10^3 m

Radius of the Earth, R = 6371 km = 6371 × 10^3 m (approximately)

Height above the surface of the Earth = r - R = (9480 × 10^3) - (6371 × 10^3) m

We can calculate the total distance between the satellite and the center of the Earth as the sum of the radius of the Earth and the height above the surface:

Total distance = R + (9480 × 10^3 - 6371 × 10^3) m

Now, substituting the values into the formula for the period of revolution:

T = 2π√((R + (9480 × 10^3 - 6371 × 10^3))^3 / (G * M))

Calculating the period of revolution:

T = 2π√(((6371 × 10^3) + (9480 × 10^3 - 6371 × 10^3))^3 / (6.67430 × 10^(-11) * (5.972 × 10^24)))

Simplifying the expression:

T = 2π√((9480 × 10^3)^3 / (6.67430 × 10^(-11) * (5.972 × 10^24)))

Calculating the value:

T ≈ 2π√(8.982144 × 10^19 / (4.4649917 × 10^14))

Simplifying further:

T ≈ 2π√(2015.75 × 10^5)

Calculating the square root:

T ≈ 2π * 1422.374108

Calculating the value:

T ≈ 8952.778661 s

Therefore, the period of revolution of the satellite is approximately 8952.778661 seconds.

answered
User Modest
by
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