# Orbital Speed Formula

## Orbital Speed

The orbital speed of the object is the speed at which it orbits around the barycenter of a system which is usually around a massive body. Around the sun orbital speed of the earth is 108,000 km/h. The term can be used to refer to either the mean orbital speed, i.e. the average speed over an entire orbit, or its instantaneous speed at a particular point in its orbit.

The orbital speed formula is provided by,

$v_{orbit}\,&space;=\,&space;\sqrt{\frac{GM}{R}}$

Where,
G = gravitational constant
M = mass of the planet

### Solved Example

Example 1

The mass of an object is given as 8.35×1022 Kg and the radius is given as 2.7×106m. Find the orbital speed.

Solution:

Given:

M = 8.35×1022kg

R = 2.7×106m
G = 6.673×10-11m3/kgs2

Orbital speed equation is given by,

vorbit = √GM / R

vorbit = √6.673×10−11 ×8.35×1022 / 2.7×106

vorbit= 20.636 x 106 m/s.

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