(a) Show that, for heights small compared with Earth’s radius , the fractional…

PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Fields and their consequences · Fields and their consequences

Problem

(a) Show that, for heights

h

small compared with Earth’s radius

R

, the fractional decrease in the weight of a body is approximately

2h/R

. (a) Show that, for heights

h

small compared with Earth’s radius

R

, the fractional decrease in the weight of a body is approximately

2h/R

. (b) Hence calculate the height above the Earth’s surface at which the weight of a body becomes

99\%

of its surface value. Take

R = 6400\,\text{km}