In order for a satellite to be geosynchronous, its orbit must:
a. go over the North and South Poles.
b. be over the equator.
c. be over a single longitude.
d. emit television signals.
[Ques. 2] According to Kepler's second law, Halley's Comet circles the Sun in an elliptical path with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse. What is at the other focus of the ellipse?
a. nothing
b. the Earth
c. The comet itself passes through the other focus.
d. The tail of the comet stays at the other ellipse.
[Ques. 3] Of the eight known planets in our solar system, the innermost is Mercury. When compared to the other planets in the system, Mercury has the:
a. greatest centripetal acceleration.
b. greatest period of revolution.
c. smallest angular velocity.
d. smallest tangential velocity.
[Ques. 4] Which of the following best describes the property of the period of orbital revolution for an Earth satellite?
a. greater when the orbital radius is smaller
b. greater when the orbital radius is larger
c. independent of the orbital radius
d. determined mainly by the satellite's mass
[Ques. 5] At what location does an artificial Earth satellite in elliptical orbit have its greatest speed?
a. nearest the Earth
b. farthest from the Earth
c. between Earth and Moon
d. between Earth and Sun
[Ques. 6] A planet has mass M = 8.00 1023 kg. At what distance will the centripetal acceleration of an orbiting space station be equal to the gravitational acceleration on Earth's surface? (G = 6.67 1011 m3kg1s1)
a. 2.33 106 m
b. 5.44 1012 m
c. 5.23 1014 m
d. 1.18 1035 m
[Ques. 7] An object of mass m is on the surface of the Earth. The distance to the Sun and the Moon are dS and dM, and the masses of the Sun and Moon are MS and MM. What is the ratio of the gravitational force from the Sun to that of the Moon on the object?
a. MSMM /dSdM
b. MSMM /d2Sd2M
c. MSd2M /MMd2M
d. MMd2S /MSd2M
[Ques. 8] A double-star system with each star having the mass of the Sun has an orbital period of 1 year. A second double star system, also with each star having the mass of the Sun, has an orbital period of 8 years. If the separation of the stars in the first system is d and the orbits in both cases are circular, what is the separation of the stars in the second system?
a. 0.5d b. 2d
c. 4d d. 8d
[Ques. 9] If the mass of Venus is 0.786 times that of Earth, and its radius is 0.950 that of Earth, estimate the gravitational acceleration g at the surface of Venus. (gearth = 9.80 m/s2)
a. 7.31 m/s2 b. 3.73 m/s2
c. 8.27 m/s2 d. 8.53 m/s2
[Ques. 10] A satellite is in a circular orbit about the Earth at a distance of two Earth radii above the surface. What is the speed of the satellite? (The radius of the Earth is 6.4 106 m, and G = 6.67 1011 N m2/kg2.)
a. 2 800 m/s b. 4 600 m/s
c. 5 600 m/s d. 17 000 m/s
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