Recent content by jhoge

forgot to include photo here is a photo

Homework Statement A satellite of mass m is in a circular orbit of radius 2RE around the Earth. The satellite hits a piece of space junk of mass mj. The space junk, which was initially at rest, sticks to the satellite. The satellite and junk then fall as one in a new elliptic orbit around the...

i reworked it, having left out a 2. This threw my answer off by a lot, because I didn't distribute it and so on.

never mind, it was an algebra error! Thank you friend! I really appreciate the help :)

so i solved for ω^2*r using one of my equations and plugged that into the other to solve for tension. My result was F_T= 3*m*M*G/8/r^2, which is wrong according to the grader.

the centripetal acceleration of each satellite is going to be equal to ω^2*r, however I am lacking a value for ω, and I'm not sure how to find it.

oh! thanks for pointing out the mistake. The fact that the satellites have the same period indicates that they have the same angular velocity. I feel like there is something that is blatantly obvious that I am missing :/

but how can i use the period?

The velocity of an object in circular orbit at radius r with period T is v = 2*r/T, or for angular ω = 2*pi/T

however this leaves me with a velocity that I cannot find..

the acceleration needed for an object to stay in circular orbit is a_c = v^2/r. I related this to the forces acting upon the satellite through my Newton's second law equations, considering the sum of the forces acting upon the satellite to be equal to m*a_c

also thank you for the prompt response

There are two forces acting upon each mass: the gravitational force due to the planet and the tension force of the tether connecting them. I guess this would mean that I cannot use kepler's equation for period then... In that case, how can I endeavor to find the centripetal acceleration?

forgot to include photo here's a picture of the problem

Homework Statement Two satellites connected by a string revolve in concentric circular orbits of radius r and 2r Two satellites of equal masses m revolve around the planet of mass M. The satellites have extremely small mass compared to the planet, m≪M. The radii of the orbits of the...