Energy of a SpacecraftVery far from earth(at R=\infty), a spacecraft has run out of fuel and its kineticenergy is zero. If only
1 answer:
Answer:
Explanation:
In this case mechanical energy is conserved, which means that the sum of the initial kinetic energy and initial potential gravitational energy will be equal to the sum of the final kinetic energy and final potential gravitational energy:
Which in our case will be:
Which, since ,
,
,
and canceling <em>m</em> means that:
Solving for the final velocity we get:
You might be interested in
The mechanical energy of the roller coaster is sum of kinetic energy K and gravitational potential energy U:
where
is the kinetic energy
is the gravitational potential energy
Since the ride is frictionless, the total mechanical energy E is conserved during the ride. Therefore, at the top of the hill, the potential energy is maximum, because h (the height) is maximum, and this means the kinetic energy is minimum (because the sum of K and U is constant), so the velocity will be minimum. Viceversa, at the bottom of the hill, the potential energy will be minimum (because h is minimum), so the kinetic energy K will be maximum, and the velocity v of the roller coaster will be maximum.
where
Since the ride is frictionless, the total mechanical energy E is conserved during the ride. Therefore, at the top of the hill, the potential energy is maximum, because h (the height) is maximum, and this means the kinetic energy is minimum (because the sum of K and U is constant), so the velocity will be minimum. Viceversa, at the bottom of the hill, the potential energy will be minimum (because h is minimum), so the kinetic energy K will be maximum, and the velocity v of the roller coaster will be maximum.