Finding impact speed of a high altitude free fall

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SUMMARY

The impact speed of a body released from an altitude of 2 x 10^8 m, neglecting air resistance, can be calculated using conservation of mechanical energy. The formula derived is v^2 = 2GM/r, where r is the sum of Earth's radius (6.37 x 10^6 m) and the altitude. The initial calculation yielded an impact speed of approximately 1968 m/s, but upon reevaluation using the correct gravitational potential energy equation, U = -(Gmm/R)(R + h)^-1, the impact speed was found to be 1.10 x 10^4 m/s, which aligns with one of the multiple-choice answers.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy principles
  • Familiarity with the conservation of mechanical energy
  • Knowledge of gravitational constants, specifically G (6.674 x 10^-11 N(m/kg)^2)
  • Basic algebra for manipulating equations
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the derivation of gravitational potential energy equations
  • Learn about the effects of air resistance on free fall
  • Explore advanced topics in gravitational physics, such as escape velocity
  • Investigate the implications of high-altitude free falls in real-world scenarios
USEFUL FOR

Physics students, educators, and anyone interested in gravitational mechanics and free fall calculations will benefit from this discussion.

Kavorka
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If we neglect the effects of air resistance, the impact speed of a body of mass m released from rest at an altitude of 2 x 10^8 m above the surface of Earth (mass of Earth = M = 5.99 x 10^24 kg, radius of Earth = 6.37 x 10^6 m)

It's a multiple choice and I think I have it, but I just want to make sure because we just scraped over the surface of gravitation.

I used conservation of mechanical energy where ΔU = -GMm/r and ΔK = (1/2)mv^2
Setting them equal and opposite, m cancels and we get:

v^2 = 2GM/r, where r is the radius of Earth plus the altitude. I get that the answer is 1968 m/s. Am I doing this correct? I only ask because my answer would then be "None of these is correct" for the multiple choice.
 
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I just realized that the change in potential energy radius would be the altitude minus the radius of earth...but it still comes out to about 2000 m/s which is still not an answer.
 
I used a different equation for gravitational potential energy: U = -(Gmm/R)(R + h)^-1 where h is the altitude and R is the radius of earth, and found an answer that is in the multiple choice: 1.10 x 10^4 m/s
 

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