A satellite is in a circular orbit around the Earth. If the radius of the orbit

A satellite is in a circular orbit around the Earth. If the radius of the orbit is increased, what happens to the orbital speed of the satellite?

A satellite is in a circular orbit around the Earth. If the radius of the orbit is increased, what happens to the orbital speed of the satellite?

Correct Answer: Orbital speed decreases.

Step 1: Understand that a satellite orbits the Earth in a circular path.
Step 2: Know that the orbital speed of the satellite depends on two things: the gravitational constant (G) and the mass of the Earth (M), as well as the radius of the orbit (r).
Step 3: The formula for orbital speed (v) is v = √(GM/r).
Step 4: Notice that in this formula, the radius (r) is in the denominator (the bottom part).
Step 5: If the radius (r) increases (gets larger), the value of GM stays the same, but the overall fraction (GM/r) becomes smaller.
Step 6: Since v is the square root of (GM/r), if (GM/r) gets smaller, then v (the orbital speed) also gets smaller.
Step 7: Therefore, when the radius of the orbit increases, the orbital speed of the satellite decreases.

Orbital Mechanics – Understanding how the gravitational force and radius of orbit affect the speed of a satellite.
Inverse Relationship – Recognizing that as the radius of the orbit increases, the orbital speed decreases due to the inverse square law.