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Question

What is the relation between escape and orbital velocity?


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Solution

  1. Escape velocity (speed) is the minimum speed required by a non-accelerating object to overcome the gravitational pull of a massive body (like Earth) and escape into space.
  2. The expression for escape velocity is, ve=2GMr. Here, ve is the escape speed, G is the gravitational constant, M is the mass of the massive body and r is the distance between the initial position of the object and the center of the body.
  3. Orbital velocity is the speed at which an object is revolving around a massive body along its orbit. A natural or artificial satellite's orbital velocity is the velocity required to keep it in orbit. The expression for the orbital velocity will be, vo=GMr.
  4. Comparing the expressions for ve and vo, we can get a relation between them.

ve=2GMrve=2GMrve=2vo

Hence, the relation between escape and orbital velocity is ve=2vo.


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