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The mass of a satellite orbiting earth is 15000 kg. the mass of the earth is 6 x 10²⁴ kg. the distance between the satellite and earth is 3.8 x 10⁶ m. what is the gravitational force between the earth and the satellite?

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Final answer:

To calculate the gravitational force between the earth and the satellite, you can use Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation. In this case, the force is approximately 2.83 x 10^6 Newtons.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the gravitational force between the earth and the satellite, we can use Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, which states that the force of gravity between two objects is proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Using the given information, we have:

The mass of the satellite (m1) = 15000 kg

The mass of the earth (m2) = 6 x 10^24 kg

The distance between the satellite and earth (r) = 3.8 x 10^6 m

Plugging these values into the formula, we get:

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

where G is the gravitational constant, which is approximately 6.67 x 10^(-11) Nm^2/kg^2.

Calculating:

F = (6.67 x 10^(-11) Nm^2/kg^2) * (15000 kg) * (6 x 10^24 kg) / (3.8 x 10^6 m)^2

Simplifying the equation, we find that the gravitational force between the earth and the satellite is approximately 2.83 x 10^6 Newtons.

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