What is the minimum speed required for a satellite to achieve a low Earth orbit?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
What is the minimum speed required for a satellite to achieve a low Earth orbit?
7.9 km/s
11.2 km/s
5.0 km/s
9.8 km/s
The minimum speed required for a satellite to achieve a low Earth orbit is approximately 7.9 km/s.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: What is the minimum speed required for a satellite to achieve a low Earth orbit?
Solution: The minimum speed required for a satellite to achieve a low Earth orbit is approximately 7.9 km/s.
Steps: 4
Step 1: Understand what a satellite in low Earth orbit (LEO) is. LEO is an orbit that is relatively close to the Earth, typically between 160 km to 2,000 km above the Earth's surface.
Step 2: Know that to stay in orbit, a satellite must move fast enough to counteract the pull of Earth's gravity.
Step 3: Learn that this speed is called orbital speed. For low Earth orbit, this speed is about 7.9 kilometers per second (km/s).
Step 4: Remember that this speed allows the satellite to balance the gravitational pull of the Earth, preventing it from falling back to the surface.
