Hi everyone,
this problem confused me a bit. I know I can find the centripetal acceleration and set it equal to the gravitational force, but when they ask about "orbiting" speed it made me think of escape velocity and such... the v I get is okay for orbiting? Here's the problem:
The curvature of Mars is such that its surface drops a vertical distance of 2 m for every 3600 m tangent to the surface. In addition, the gravitational acceleration near its surface is 0.4 times that near the surface of Earth. What is the speed a golf ball would need to orbit Mars near the surface, ignoring the effects of air resistance?
anyone able to offer more insight into this one?
9677 #21
Re: 9677 #21
it is problem 22
it is a geometry problem. the radius changes and so you use centripetal forces... it is way to hard for the current exams.
it is a geometry problem. the radius changes and so you use centripetal forces... it is way to hard for the current exams.
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Re: 9677 #21
orbiting around the surface...
supposedly the surface is rounded... and it's a circle...
supposedly the surface is rounded... and it's a circle...
Re: 9677 #21
have you checked http://grephysics.net ?
mhazelm wrote:Hi everyone,
this problem confused me a bit. I know I can find the centripetal acceleration and set it equal to the gravitational force, but when they ask about "orbiting" speed it made me think of escape velocity and such... the v I get is okay for orbiting? Here's the problem:
The curvature of Mars is such that its surface drops a vertical distance of 2 m for every 3600 m tangent to the surface. In addition, the gravitational acceleration near its surface is 0.4 times that near the surface of Earth. What is the speed a golf ball would need to orbit Mars near the surface, ignoring the effects of air resistance?
anyone able to offer more insight into this one?