Earth Satellites

Newton argued that if a cannon could be placed on a hill high enough to be outside the earth's atmosphere, and if the cannon could be made powerful enough, a cannonball could be placed in orbit around the earth.
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Questions #: 2
Time: 5 minutes
Pass Score: 80.0%
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Suppose that the shot from the cannon results in a path like that of path A in the figure.  If the cannon were more powerful, the ball might take a path like B, or even C.  Finally, if a powerful enough cannon could be obtained, it could shoot the cannonball so that the cannonball would come back to where it started.  It would then be in orbit.

earth_satellite.gif

What keeps such a cannonball from flying into space is the force of gravity

POINTS (1)

Correct Answer

Explanation

The cannonball never reaches the ground

because the curvature of the earth is just enough so that as cannonball falls, it gets no closer to the surface.

POINTS (1)

Correct Answer

Explanation

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y√x 3√x √x ln log
( ) 1/x % n!
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0 . EXP ÷ MR
± RND C = MC

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