Question

The radius of the Earth is approximately 6,000 kilometers. The acceleration of an astronaut in a perfectly circular orbit 300 kilometers above the Earth would be most nearly 

(A) 0 m/s² 

 (B) 0.05 m/s² 

 (C) 5 m/s² 

 (D) 9 m/s² 

 (E) 11 m/s²

Answer 1

Correct option (D) 9m/s²

G = GM/r² 300 km above the surface of the Earth is only a 5% increase in the distance (1.05 times the distance). This will produce only a small effect on g (÷1.05²).