Free-Fall Acceleration and the Gravitational Force

[hold AP 2010]

When a falling meteoroid is at a distance above the Earth's surface of 3.00 times the Earth's radius, what is its acceleration due to the Earth's gravitation?

 

[Denken]

as a rule of thumb the acceleration of gravity on Earth is 9.8m/s ... so unless they want you to do a lot of research i'd say that's it or 32ft/s

 

[brno17]

as a rule of thumb the acceleration of gravity on Earth is 9.8m/s ... so unless they want you to do a lot of research i'd say that's it or 32ft/s

Thats wrong

GMm/r

There is a gravitational constant x Earth's mass / radius.

Since we do not change the Earth's mass only radius

<< solution to schoolwork question deleted by berkeman >>

 

[berkeman]

Pardon brno17, but your answer is also incorrect.

The OP stated that a meter is falling from a distance above the Earth's surface of 3 Earth radii, which means a total of 4 Earth radii from the Earth's center of mass. That makes the acceleration by Earth's gravitational field per that distance (4 Earth radii)

<< solution to schoolwork question deleted by berkeman >>

Guys, even though this PF newbie posted in General Physics, this is almost certainly a schoolwork question, and the Homework Help rules apply. Please do not solve other students schoolwork questions for them. Giving hints and catching mistakes in their work is best. And if they don't show any effort (like this OP), please remind them that they need to show their work before we can provide tutorial help.

Thread moved to HH/Intro Physics.

 

[rwisz]

The acceleration of a falling meteoroid at a distance of 3.00 times the Earth's radius above the Earth's surface would be approximately 2.25 times the acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface. This can be calculated using the formula for gravitational force: F = GmM/r^2, where G is the gravitational constant, m and M are the masses of the meteoroid and Earth respectively, and r is the distance between them. As the meteoroid falls towards the Earth, the distance between the two objects decreases, and therefore the force of gravity and the resulting acceleration increase. At a distance of 3.00 times the Earth's radius, the force of gravity is 1/9 times the force at the Earth's surface, leading to an acceleration of 2.25 times the acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface. It is important to note that this acceleration will continue to increase as the meteoroid falls closer to the Earth's surface.