Question

You are on an airplane traveling with a constant velocity at an altitude of 20,000m. What is the acceleration of gravity at that altitude? The earth's radius is 6.37 x 10^6m.. . A) 9.81 m/s^2. B) 9.78 m/s^2. C) 9.75 m/s^2. D) 9.72 m/s^2. E) 9.69 m/s^2.

Answer 1

The correct answer would be A.The acceleration of gravity is 9.81 m/s^2. This is calculated by using the equation:

a = GM/r²

where G is the gravitational constant 6.6726 x 10-11N-m2/kg2, M is the mass of the planet (5.9736E+24 kg) and r is the radius of the planet.

Answer 2

Answer:

C) $9.75m/s^2$

Explanation:

Acceleration of gravity is calculated with the following formula:

$g=\frac{GM}{r^2}$

Where $G$ It is the universal gravitational constant

$G=6.674x10^{-11}Nm^2/kg^2$

and M is the mass of the earth:

$M=5.972x10^{24} kg$

$r$ is the distance from the center of earth wich will be in this case the earth's radius plus the altitude of the airplane:

$r=6.37x10^{6} m + 20000m=6.39x10^{6}m$

thus, the acceleration g is:

$g=\frac{(6.674x10^{-11}Nm^2/kg^2)(5.972x10^{24} kg)}{(6.39x10^{6}m)^2} =9.75m/s^2$