| Without Gravity satellites would shoot off into space, (Newton's 1st
Law) so for an object to stay in orbit, the centripetal force must equal
the force of gravity and gravity decreases as distance from the earth increases
m v ² / r = m g so vmin = Ö (gr) Where v is the minimum velocity, m is the mass of the satellite, r is the radius, and g is the acceleration due to gravity. The minimum velocity necessary to keep a body in orbit is dependent only on the gravitational acceleration and radius of the orbit. |