Question
Question: How would you calculate the speed at which the moon revolves around the earth is m/s?...
How would you calculate the speed at which the moon revolves around the earth is m/s?
Solution
In order to calculate the speed of the moon we need two quantities
- Distance of the moon from center of the earth
- Total times taken by the moon revolving around the earth
By using these two quantities we can calculate the speed of the moon.
Formula used:
v=T2πr
Complete answer:
In order to calculate the speed of the moon we will use the below equation.
v=rω.....(1)
Where, v = velocity
r = orbital radius of the moon
ω= angular velocity
Now we know that the angular velocity
ω=T2π
Now substitute value of ωin the equation (1)
v=T2π×r....(2)
Where, T = orbital period
Now we know that moon is 384,000km away from the earth therefore,
r = 384,000km
Moon revolves around the earth in 27.3 days therefore,
T = 27.3 days
Now convert units from the days to second
⇒T=27.3×60×60×24=2,358,720S
Now substitute all the values in the equation (2)
v=2,358,7202π×384000=1.022km/s
Converting the unit from km/s to m/s
⇒v=1.022×103m/s∴v=1022m/s
Therefore speed of the moon that is revolving around the earth is 1022m/s
Note:
As an approach to solve this question we use this formula v=T2πr in which we put value of r as the distance between earth and the moon and T as revolving time of the moon around the earth.