What is the gravitational potential energy of a satellite of mass m at a height h above the Earth's surface?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
What is the gravitational potential energy of a satellite of mass m at a height h above the Earth's surface?
-GMm/R
-GMm/(R+h)
-GMm/(R-h)
-GMm/(R^2 + h^2)
The gravitational potential energy of a satellite at height h is given by U = -GMm/(R+h), where R is the radius of the Earth.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: What is the gravitational potential energy of a satellite of mass m at a height h above the Earth's surface?
Solution: The gravitational potential energy of a satellite at height h is given by U = -GMm/(R+h), where R is the radius of the Earth.
Steps: 5
Step 1: Understand that gravitational potential energy (U) is the energy an object has due to its position in a gravitational field.
Step 2: Identify the formula for gravitational potential energy in the context of a satellite above the Earth, which is U = -GMm/(R+h).
Step 3: Recognize that G is the gravitational constant, M is the mass of the Earth, m is the mass of the satellite, R is the radius of the Earth, and h is the height of the satellite above the Earth's surface.
Step 4: Note that the negative sign in the formula indicates that gravitational potential energy is lower (more negative) when the satellite is closer to the Earth.
Step 5: Substitute the values of G, M, m, R, and h into the formula to calculate the gravitational potential energy for a specific satellite.
