The international space station is maintained in a nearly circular orbit with a mean altitude of 330km and a maximum of 410km. An astronaut is floating in the space station's cabin. The acceleration of astronaut as measured from the earth is.
A
Zero
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B
Nearly zero and directed towards the earth
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C
Nearly g and directed along the line of travel of the station.
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D
Nearly g and directed towards the earth.
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Solution
The correct option is B Nearly g and directed towards the earth. From earth as one takes a a body outward in space to height h, gravitation acceleration varies as gh=gR2(R+h)2; R is the radius of earth. Now h is small compared to R, so gh≈g and directed towards earth.