Question

What causes a satellite to move tangentially to a circular path?

Answer 1

Answer: tangential velocity

The tangential velocity is the velocity the body presents at a given moment of time when describing a circular movement, taking into account its direction, as well as the radius by which it is traveling in a particular fraction of its trajectory.

To calculate tangential velocity, it is possible to take the angular velocity as a reference, nevertheless it is necessary to understand that it can be constant, while the tangential velocity can vary at each step, given the alterations of the path.

This is possible because movement of a satellite around the planet Earth is a good example of uniform circular motion, which is characterized by the movement of a body describing a circumference of a given radius with constant speed.

Therefore in this movement the velocity has a constant magnitude, but its direction varies continuously.

Answer 2

Explanation : We know that two forces acting on the satellite.

The speed of the satellite and the force of the gravity on the satellite then the result , the satellite moves around the earth in a circular motion.

A satellite to move tangentially to a circular path, while revolving around the circular path because the centripetal force is acting on it.

So, we can say gravity is responsible for the motion of the satellite in a circular path.