9-76. Most telecommunications satellites are in geosynchronous orbits above the earth, that is, they have periods of 24 h. As a result, since the earth turns on its axis once in 24 h and each satellite goes around the earth once in 24 h, any individual satellite stays positioned above a particular point on the earth. (a) How far above the earth's surface must a geosynchronous satellite be? The earth's mass and average radius are 5.98X1024 kg and 6368 km. (b) What is the satellite's speed?

ACCUMULATED SOLUTION


Correct
The gravitational attraction between the earth and the satellite is given by:

(A)   F = GmM/r
(B)   F = GmM/r2
(C)   F = GmMr2