Answer to Question #160134 in Field Theory for Hillary

Question

A satellite in Earth orbit has a mass of 100kg and is at an altitude of 2.00 x 10^6 m.
(a) What is the potential energy of the satellite-Earth system? (b) What is the magnitude of the gravitational force exerted by the earth on the satellite?

Answer 1

Answer

a) the potential energy of the satellite-Earth system

$U=-\frac{GMM'}{r}$

Where M is mass of earth and othercof satellite.

$U=-\frac{ 6.67×\times10^{−11} \times5.97 × 10^{24}}{2\times10^6 }$

$=$ $-20\times10^{7} J$

b) magnitude of the gravitational force exerted by the earth on the satellite

$F=\frac{GMM'}{r^2}$

$=\frac{ 6.67×\times10^{−11} \times5.97 × 10^{24}}{(2\times10^6 )^2}$

$=100N$