Question

A ball is dropped from a spacecraft revolving around the earth at the height of 120 km. What will happen to the ball?

• A. It will continue to move with the same speed along the original orbit of spacecraft
• B. It will move with the same speed, tangentially to the spacecraft
• C. It will fall down to the earth gradually
• D. It will go very far in space

Answer 1

The correct option is A It will continue to move with the same speed along the original orbit of spacecraft

Before dropping the ball, the centripetal force on the ball is equal to the gravitational force. When an object is dropped from a satellite, it will experience the same centripetal force as before and hence will continue to revolve around the earth with the same speed.