Name: ___________________________________

Date: ______________

Directions: Show all work on a separate sheet of paper. Use the following to answer questions 1-4. A 2400-kg satellite is in a circular orbit around a planet. The satellite travels with a constant speed of 6.67 * 10^3 m/s.

The radius of the circular orbit is 8.92 * 10^6 m. 1. At the instant shown in the figure, which arrow indicates the direction of the net force on the satellite?

2. What is the centripetal acceleration of the satellite? 3. Determine the magnitude of the gravitational force exerted on the satellite by the planet. 4. Determine the mass of the planet. 5. What is the acceleration due to gravity at an altitude of 1.00 * 10^6 m above the earth's surface? Note: the radius of the earth is 6.38 * 10^6 m. 6. A spaceship is in orbit around the earth at an altitude of 12 000 miles. Which one of the following statements best explains why the astronauts experience weightlessness?
(A) The centripetal force of the earth on the astronaut in orbit is zero newtons. (B) The pull of the earth on the spaceship is canceled by the pull of the other planets. (C) The spaceship is in free fall and its floor cannot press upwards on the astronauts. (D) The force of gravity decreases as the inverse square of the distance from the earth's center. (E) The force of the earth on the spaceship and the force of the spaceship on the earth cancel because they are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.

7. The moon is 384400 km from earth. The moon completes one full orbit around the earth every 27.32 days. At what speed does the moon orbit earth? What is the mass of the earth? What is the force of gravity of the earth on the moon? [The mass of the moon is 7.35*1022 kg.]