A spacecraft of mass m=520 kg stationary with respect to the South Pole of the Earth...

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Physics

A spacecraft of mass m=520 kg stationary with respect to theSouth Pole of the Earth runs out of fuel and starts to fallvertically toward the South Pole. If the initial altitude of thespace craft is 800 km, what is the velocity of the space craft whenit hits the surface of the Earth in km/s? Assume that you canignore the atmospheric friction. Note that the universalgravitational constant G = 6.67x10-11 Nm2/kg2 , the radius of theEarth RE = 6.37x106 m, and the mass of the Earth ME = 5.97 x 1024kg. (Hint: Conservation of energy).

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3.6 Ratings (519 Votes)

Consider earth and spacecraft as a system Then the only force acting on these objects is gravitational force which is an internal conservative force Mechanical energy of a system is conserved when only internal conservative forces are acting So in the given situation mechanical energy is conserved See Answer

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