No. Instead of potential energy, think in terms of forces and acceleration. What is the gravitational force on the satellite. (Tip: Don't be so quick to plug in numbers.)Nicolaus said:Would I just set the aforementioned eqations equal to each other and re-arrange to solve for g?
You won't need the mass--just call it 'm'. When you calculate the acceleration, it will drop out.Nicolaus said:Well, it's also experiencing a centripetal force. If we set Fc=Fg, we can get the velocity of the orbit, but, other than that, I'm not sure how to do this without the mass of the sat.
Gravitational potential energy is the energy possessed by an object due to its position in a gravitational field. It is the amount of work that would be required to move the object to a certain position against the force of gravity.
Gravitational potential energy is calculated by multiplying the mass of the object by the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s^2) and the height of the object relative to a reference point. The formula is PE = mgh, where m is the mass, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and h is the height.
Gravitational potential energy plays a crucial role in determining the shape and stability of orbits. In order for an object to maintain a stable orbit around another object, its gravitational potential energy must be balanced by its kinetic energy. If the object's potential energy is too high, it will escape the orbit, and if it is too low, it will crash into the larger object.
The gravitational potential energy between two objects is inversely proportional to the distance between them. This means that as the distance increases, the potential energy decreases. This is why objects in orbit have less potential energy the further they are from the larger object they are orbiting.
Satellites in orbit around the Earth have a constant amount of gravitational potential energy, which is balanced by their kinetic energy. This allows them to maintain a stable orbit without crashing into the Earth or escaping into space. Changes in the satellite's speed or distance from the Earth can affect its gravitational potential energy and alter its orbit.