- #1
Wolfmannm
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Homework Statement
If you were on the top of Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador (0°S, 80°W, elevation 20,564 ft), with what minimum speed (and in what direction) would you have to throw a baseball horizontally so that it would go into a circular orbit
about the earth? (Neglect air friction. Assume a spherical earth, and assume that no other mountains get in the way.) How long would you have to wait for the ball to come back around?The following data taken from wikipedia.
Mass of Earth Me = 6.673x1024 kg
radius of the Earth = 6.268 km
radius of Earth and mountain rt= 6.377x107 m
Gravitational constant G=6.673x10-11 Nm/kg
I have found the escape velocity of the ball but I have no idea how to determine the angle it needs to be at to go into orbit. I also have no idea what the minimum height is that would be considered an orbit in order to determine how long the ball will need to travel to return. Any help would be appreciated.
Homework Equations
V=√(GMe/rt))[/B]
The Attempt at a Solution
V=√(6.673x10-11 Nm/kgx 6.673x1024 kg/6.377x107 m[/B])
V=7.905x103