What is the period of a satellite in a low Earth orbit (LEO) compared to a satel
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the period of a satellite in a low Earth orbit (LEO) compared to a satellite in a geostationary orbit?
Longer than a geostationary orbit
Shorter than a geostationary orbit
Equal to a geostationary orbit
Depends on the mass of the satellite
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the period of a satellite in a low Earth orbit (LEO) compared to a satellite in a geostationary orbit?
Step 1: Understand what a satellite's orbital period is. It is the time it takes for a satellite to complete one full orbit around the Earth.
Step 2: Know that there are different types of orbits. Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is close to the Earth, while Geostationary Orbit is much higher up.
Step 3: Realize that the closer a satellite is to Earth, the faster it moves. This is because it has to travel a shorter distance in a shorter amount of time.
Step 4: Learn that satellites in Low Earth Orbit typically take about 90 to 120 minutes to complete one orbit.
Step 5: In contrast, a geostationary satellite is much higher up and takes 24 hours to complete one orbit, matching the Earth's rotation.
Step 6: Compare the two: LEO satellites have a much shorter orbital period (90-120 minutes) compared to geostationary satellites (24 hours).
