Question

A satellite orbits at a distance from the Earth's center of about 2.60 Earth radii and takes 5.89 hours to go around once. What distance (in meters) does the satellite travel in one day?

Answer 1

424088766.068 m

Step-by-step explanation:

Radius of the circular orbit that the satellite is 2.6 Earth radii (r) = 2.6 R

R = Radius of earth = 6371000 m (mean radius)

In order to find the distance that the satellite travels in 5.89 hours to complete one complete revolution is the circumference of the circular orbit

Circumference of a circle = 2×π×r

⇒Distance travelled in 5.89 hours = 2×π×2.6 R

⇒Distance travelled in 5.89 hours = 2×π×2.6×6371000

⇒Distance travelled in 5.89 hours = 104078451.3393m

Distance travelled in 1 hour = 104078451.3393/5.89 = 17670365.252 m

∴ Distance travelled in 24 hours = 17670365.252×24 = 424088766.068 m