A 1750 kg weather satellite has a gravitational potential energy of 169,311,000 J. How high above the earth's surface is the satellite?
1 Answer
169,311,000=9.8 x 1750 x ?
Answer:
9872.361516011111... meters.
I might always be wrong.
Explanation:
I input the known quantities 9.8 x 1750 into google. I then multiplied by likely whole numbers, starting at 9,999 then 9,800 then 9876 then 9871 and finally 9872.
Then I input likely decimals and kept adding them until the answer of 169,311,000 came up.
Finally I input as many 1s at the end as I felt comfortable with to see if the result changed. It did not so i assumed infinite 1s starting from the billionths place. The 1 in the hundred-millionths place is necessary to reach the answer, the first repeated 1 is in the billionths place.
Again, I might always be wrong.
From Google:
"Here is the equation for gravitational potential energy measured in Joules, or units of energy:
GPE = mgh.
In this equation, m is the mass of the object in kilograms, g is the acceleration due to gravity (which is always around 9.8 on Earth), and h is the height of the object above the ground, measured in meters."
I understand that it is much easier to divide 169,311,000 by 1750 x 9.8, rather than using the iterations described above, but I was bored and answering someone's specific homework question.
