Question

A man-made satellite of mass 6105 kg is in orbit around the earth, making one revolution in 430 minutes. What is the magnitude of the gravitational force exerted on the satellite by the earth? (The mass of the earth is 6.0 x 1024 kg and G = 6.67 x 10-11Nm2/kg2.

Answer 1

Answer:

A gravitational force of 6841.905 newtons is exerted on the satellite by the Earth.

Explanation:

At first we assume that Earth is represented by an uniform sphere, such that the man-made satellite rotates in a circular orbit around the planet. Hence, the following condition must be satisfied:

$\left(\frac{4\pi^{2}}{T^{2}} \right)\cdot r = \frac{G\cdot M}{r^{2}}$ (1)

Where:

$T$ - Period of rotation of the satellite, measured in seconds.

$r$ - Distance of the satellite with respect to the center of the planet, measured in meters.

$G$ - Gravitational constant, measured in newton-square meters per square kilogram.

$M$ - Mass of the Earth, measured in kilograms.

Now we clear the distance of the satellite with respect to the center of the planet:

$r^{3} = \frac{G\cdot M\cdot T^{2}}{4\pi^{2}}$

$r = \sqrt[3]{\frac{G\cdot M\cdot T^{2}}{4\pi^{2}} }$ (2)

If we know that $G = 6.67\times 10^{-11}\,\frac{N\cdot m^{2}}{kg^{2}}$, $M = 6.0\times 10^{24}\,kg$ and $T = 25800\,s$, then the distance of the satellite is:

$r = \sqrt[3]{\frac{\left(6.67\times 10^{-11}\,\frac{N\cdot m^{2}}{kg^{2}} \right)\cdot (6.0\times 10^{24}\,kg)\cdot (25800\,s)^{2}}{4\pi^{2}} }$

$r \approx 18.897\times 10^{6}\,m$

The gravitational force exerted on the satellite by the Earth is determined by the Newton's Law of Gravitation:

$F = \frac{G\cdot m\cdot M}{r^{2}}$ (3)

Where:

$m$ - Mass of the satellite, measured in kilograms.

$F$ - Force exerted on the satellite by the Earth, measured in newtons.

If we know that $G = 6.67\times 10^{-11}\,\frac{N\cdot m^{2}}{kg^{2}}$, $M = 6.0\times 10^{24}\,kg$, $m = 6105\,kg$ and $r \approx 18.897\times 10^{6}\,m$, then the gravitational force is:

$F = \frac{\left(6.67\times 10^{-11}\,\frac{N\cdot m^{2}}{kg^{2}} \right)\cdot (6105\,kg)\cdot (6\times 10^{24}\,kg)}{(18.897\times 10^{6}\,m)^{2}}$

$F = 6841.905\,N$

A gravitational force of 6841.905 newtons is exerted on the satellite by the Earth.