A body in satellite orbiting round the earth is weightless because:
Correct answer: A. It is essentially a freely falling body
- A. It is essentially a freely falling body
- B. It is far away from the earth to experience the pull of the earth
- C. The moon attracts the body with a force equal to its weight
- D. None of the above
Explanation
A is the correct explanation. A body in orbit is essentially in free fall towards the Earth. The gravitational force from the Earth causes the body to accelerate, and if it has the right velocity, it will continuously fall around the Earth, creating an orbit. In this state of free fall, the gravitational force is balanced by the centripetal force required to keep it in orbit. This results in a continuous state of falling, creating a sensation of weightlessness for the body and everything inside it.
Last updated
About Gravitation
Newton’s law of universal gravitation relates the force between masses to their masses and separation, while gravitational field strength explains weight and orbital motion. The topic covers satellite velocity and period, escape ideas, weightlessness in free fall, and artificial gravity, which differs from ordinary gravitational attraction.
Practise Gravitation
265 free Gravitation MCQs from Physics, each with the correct answer and an explanation. Unlimited attempts, no account needed.
Exams that ask Physics questions like this
Physics is on 9 papers prepared for on TestUstad, and all of them draw the same bank, so this question is worth knowing for every one of them.
Related questions
A 2 kg body falls from infinity to the surface of earth. What will be the kinetic energy of the body on reaching the surface of Earth (Assume escape velocity to be 104 ms-1)?
A bird resting on the floor of an air-tight box which is being carried by a boy, starts flying. The boy will feel that the box is now:
A body is taken from the earth's surface to the moon, the weight of the body will be zero at a point where force of attraction due to:
A body of 2kg is suspended from the ceiling of an elevator moving up with an acceleration 'g' its apparent weight in the elevator will be:
A body of mass m is projected from the earth's surface at the point of launch, the acceleration of free fall is g and the radius of earth is Re. To escape from the gravitational field of the earth, the speed of the body (i.e. escape velocity) must be at least: