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A body weighs 63 N on the surface of the earth. What is the gravitational force due to the earth at a height of 3200 km from the earth's surface? (Radius of the earth is 6400 km)

a. 9.8 N
b. 4.9 N
c. 3.5 N
d. 2.5 N

User FakeCaleb
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1 Answer

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Final answer:

The gravitational force due to the earth at a height of 3200 km is 4.9 N.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the gravitational force due to the earth at a certain height, we need to use Newton's law of universal gravitation. The formula is:

F = (G * m1 * m2) / r^2

Where F is the gravitational force, G is the gravitational constant (approximately 6.67 x 10^-11 Nm^2/kg^2), m1 and m2 are the masses of the two objects (in this case, the body and the earth), and r is the distance between their centers of mass. In this scenario, the body weighs 63 N on the surface of the earth, so its mass can be calculated using the formula weight = mass * gravitational acceleration. Therefore, the mass of the body is:

m1 = 63 N / 9.8 m/s^2 = 6.43 kg

At a height of 3200 km from the earth's surface, the distance between the body and the earth's center of mass is 6400 km + 3200 km = 9600 km = 9.6 x 10^6 m. Plugging the values into the formula, we get:

F = (6.67 x 10^-11 Nm^2/kg^2 * 6.43 kg * 5.97 x 10^24 kg) / (9.6 x 10^6 m)^2

F = 4.9 N

User Raul Hugo
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