Question:

Predict the mean distance from Earth's center for an artificial satellite with a period of 2 days?

by  |  earlier

0 LIKES UnLike

The moon has a period of 27.3 days and has a mean distance of 3.90x10^5 km from the center of Earth. Using this data, predict what the mean distance from Earth's center would be for an artificial satellite that has a period of 2.60 days.

 Tags:

   Report

1 ANSWERS


  1. I see you're using the sidereal period (27.3 days) instead of the synodic period (29.5 days) for the moon!

    Period in seconds = 2 * PI * (SQRT((semimajor axis in km)^3 / (gravitational constant in km3/s2)))

    Therefore:

    Distance = (Period / (2*PI) * G^2)^0.333

    Distance = ((3600*24*2.6) / (2*PI) * (398601)^2)^0.333

    = 178211.74 km

    = 1.782x10E5 km

    ... which is slightly less than halfway between the Earth and the Moon

Question Stats

Latest activity: earlier.
This question has 1 answers.

BECOME A GUIDE

Share your knowledge and help people by answering questions.