- #1
Phoenixtears
- 83
- 0
Homework Statement
A sensitive gravimeter at a mountain observatory finds that the acceleration due to gravity is 0.0057 m/s2 less than that at sea level. What is the observatory's altitude?
___m
Homework Equations
g= (GM)/r^2
The Attempt at a Solution
Alrighty, my attempt makes sense to me, so I'm sure where I'm going wrong.
I began by finding the mass. So, I used 9.8 m/s2 as the g and then the Earth's radius as r:
9.8= (6.67E-11)M/6.37E6 (<----- the Earth's radius)
M= 9.359E17 kg
Then I subtracted the acceleration change given from 9.8:
9.8-0.0057 = 9.7943 m/s2
That is my new g.
Then, using the found mass, I plugged in my new numbers:
9.7943= (6.67E-11)(9.36E17)/ r^2
r=2523.4 m
That, however, was not the correct answer. I can't see my error. Could anyone help me out?
Thanks in advance!
~Phoenix