Escape!
A satellite is revolving around the earth in a 300-mile orbit.
Which of the following cases will require a higher increment in speed in order to escape from the orbit?
Case 1: When the speed of the satellite is increased impulsively.
Case 2: When the speed of the satellite is increased gradually.
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1 solution
When we increase the speed impulsively it means that we change it only once. When the problem begins satellite stays near Earth, that means that the gravity field is relatively strong, so we must apply high amount of energy to overpass gravity. When we apply force gradually that means the satellite drifts away from Earth and gravity field becomes weaker and weaker, hence the speed needed to break away from Earth becomes lower.