Question

A 20 tonne space ship is orbiting the Moon 40 km above the surface. The radius of the Moon is 1,740 km and it is 380,000 km from the Earth (see image attached).Given that the tangential velocity is 1668.53 m/s, calculate the radial speed (the speed towards the centre of the circle).

Answer 1

Given that the tangential speed is v = 1668.53 m/s

The radius from the center is r = 1740 km.

The distance from the surface is 40 km

So the total distance will be D = 1740 + 40 = 1780 km

We have to find the radial speed.

The radial speed will be

`\begin{gathered} \text{radial sp}eed=(1668.53)/(1780*10^3)\text{ } \\ =\text{ 9.37 }*10^(-4)\text{ rad/s} \end{gathered}`