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The force of gravity on a 1 kg object on the Earth's surface is approximately 9.8 N. For the same object in low-earth orbit around the earth (at the height of the International Space Station), which is the closest value to the force of gravity on the object?

2 Answers

4 votes

Final answer:

The force of gravity on a 1 kg object in low-earth orbit around the Earth depends on the height of the orbit and is smaller than on the Earth's surface.

Step-by-step explanation:

The force of gravity on a 1 kg object on the Earth's surface is approximately 9.8 N. In low-earth orbit around the Earth, the force of gravity on the object is much smaller. This is because the force of gravity decreases as you move further away from the Earth's surface. However, the exact value of the force of gravity in low-earth orbit depends on the height of the orbit. For example, at the height of the International Space Station, the force of gravity on the object would be about 88% of the force on the Earth's surface, which is approximately 8.6 N.

User Telly
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6.3k points
3 votes

Answer:

g = 8.61 m/s²

Step-by-step explanation:

distance of the International Space Station form earth is 200 Km

mass of the object = 1 Kg

acceleration due to gravity on earth = 9.8 m/s²

mass of earth = 5.972 x 10²⁴ Kg

acceleration due to gravity = ?

r = 6400 + 200 = 6800 Km = 6.8 x 10⁶ n

using formula


g = (GM)/(r^2)


g = (6.67* 10^(-11)* 5.972* 10^24)/((6.8* 10^6)^2)

g = 8.61 m/s²

User Artella
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5.9k points