What is the escape velocity for a satellite to leave the Earth's gravitational influence?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
What is the escape velocity for a satellite to leave the Earth's gravitational influence?
11.2 km/s
7.9 km/s
9.8 km/s
15.0 km/s
The escape velocity from the Earth's surface is approximately 11.2 km/s.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: What is the escape velocity for a satellite to leave the Earth's gravitational influence?
Solution: The escape velocity from the Earth's surface is approximately 11.2 km/s.
Steps: 5
Step 1: Understand what escape velocity means. It is the speed needed for an object to break free from a planet's gravitational pull.
Step 2: Know that the escape velocity for Earth is calculated based on its mass and radius.
Step 3: Remember the formula for escape velocity: v = sqrt(2 * G * M / R), where G is the gravitational constant, M is the mass of the Earth, and R is the radius of the Earth.
Step 4: Plug in the values: G is approximately 6.674 × 10^-11 m^3 kg^-1 s^-2, M (mass of Earth) is about 5.972 × 10^24 kg, and R (radius of Earth) is about 6.371 × 10^6 m.
Step 5: Calculate the escape velocity using the formula, which results in approximately 11.2 km/s.
