Law of Universal Gravitation

wlmp · #1 May 13, 2004, 04:19 AM

At what height above the earth must an artificial satellite orbit if it is to remain at the same place relative to the earth?

himan · Aug 2, 2004, 04:16 AM

The anglular velocity of the satellite must be same as the angular velocity of the spin of the earth. Let the mass of the satellite be m and the mass of the earth be M and the angular velocity of earth be w (w = 2*pi/24 hours). The force balance eqn

mrw^2 = GMm/r^2

Solving you get r = (GM/w^2)^(1/3)



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