A satellite travels in a circular orbit above Earth’s surface with a speed of

PHYSICS · Multi-part · CBSE · Physics · Motion in a Plane · Motion in a Plane

Problem

A satellite travels in a circular orbit

400\,\text{km}

above Earth’s surface with a speed of

7.7\,\text{km\,s}^{-1}

. Take Earth’s radius

R_{\rm E}=6400\,\text{km}

and

g=9.8\,\text{m\,s}^{-2}

. (a) Calculate the centripetal acceleration acting on the satellite. (b) Express this acceleration as a fraction of

g