What is the relationship between the height of a satellite and its orbital perio
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the relationship between the height of a satellite and its orbital period?
Directly proportional
Inversely proportional
No relationship
Exponential relationship
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the relationship between the height of a satellite and its orbital period?
Step 1: Understand what a satellite is. A satellite is an object that orbits around a planet or another celestial body.
Step 2: Learn about orbital period. The orbital period (T) is the time it takes for a satellite to complete one full orbit around the planet.
Step 3: Know what height (h) means. The height of a satellite is the distance from the surface of the planet to the satellite.
Step 4: Recognize the relationship. The relationship between the height of a satellite and its orbital period is described by the formula T ∝ h^(3/2).
Step 5: Interpret the formula. This means that if you increase the height of the satellite, the orbital period will increase, and it does so in a specific way: the period increases as the height raised to the power of 3/2.
Step 6: Understand gravitational force. The gravitational force acting on the satellite decreases as the height increases, which affects how fast the satellite moves.
Step 7: Conclude that a higher satellite takes longer to orbit the planet because it is further away from the gravitational pull.
