At a location near the Earth’s equator a student measures the period of a simple…
PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Fields and their consequences · Fields and their consequences
Problem
At a location near the Earth’s equator a student measures the period of a simple pendulum of length 1.00m and obtains 2.006s. The radius of the Earth may be taken as 6.37×106m.
Using these measurements, answer the following:
(i) Calculate the local acceleration due to gravity.
(ii) Using the value obtained in part (i) and the given radius of the Earth, determine the mass of the Earth.
(iii) A satellite of mass 1000kg is placed in a circular orbit 400km above the Earth’s surface. Using the mass calculated in part (ii), compute the gravitational force acting on the satellite in its orbit.