Question

Deimos, a moon of Mars, is about 12 km in diameter with mass 1.5×1015kg. Suppose you are stranded alone on Deimos and want to play a one-person game of baseball. You would be the pitcher, and you would be the batter!

Part A
With what speed would you have to throw a baseball so that it would go into a circular orbit just above the surface and return to you so you could hit it?
Express your answer with the appropriate units.
Part C
How long (in hours) after throwing the ball should you be ready to hit it?

Answer 1

To throw a baseball into a circular orbit just above the surface of Deimos and have it return to you, you would need to throw it with the escape velocity, which is approximately 13.95 m/s.

Step-by-step explanation:

To throw a baseball into a circular orbit just above the surface of Deimos and have it return to you, you would need to throw it with the escape velocity. The escape velocity is the minimum velocity required for an object to overcome the gravitational pull of a celestial body. On Deimos, the escape velocity can be calculated using the formula:

V = sqrt((2 * G * M) / R)

where V is the escape velocity, G is the gravitational constant (approximately 6.674 x 10^-11 N(m/kg)^2), M is the mass of Deimos (1.5 x 10^15 kg), and R is the radius of Deimos (diameter/2 = 6 km).

Plugging in the values, the escape velocity comes out to be approximately 13.95 m/s.