Calculate the force of Earth's gravity on a spacecraft 12,800 km (2 Earth radii) above the Earth's surface if its mass is 1250 kg .

Question

Calculate the force of Earth's gravity on a spacecraft 12,800 kmkm (2 Earth radii) above the Earth's surface if its mass is 1250 kgkg .

Answer 1

By Newton's Law, Force = (G m1 m2) / r²

You can look up G

m1 = 1250 kg

m2 = mass of the Earth in kg (look it up)

r = distance of spacecraft from center of Earth

radius of Earth = 12800 / 2 = 6400 km

So r = 6400 + 12800 km = 19200 km = 1.92 x 10 ⁴ km = 1.92 x 10⁷ m