The International Space Station is orbiting at an altitude of about 231 miles (370 km) above the Earth's surface. The mass of the Earth is [tex]5.976 \times 10^{24}[/tex] kg and the radius of the Earth is [tex]6.378 \times 10^{6}[/tex] m.

a) Assuming a circular orbit, calculate the orbital speed (in m/s) of the space station.

b) Calculate the orbital period (in minutes) of the space station.

c) Convert the orbital speed obtained in part (a) from m/s to miles/hour. You should get something close to 17,000 miles/hour. Hint: 1 mile = 1.6 km.

a) The orbital speed of the International Space Station is approximately 7.66 km/s. b) The orbital period of the space station is approximately 92.68 minutes. c) Converting the orbital speed from m/s to miles/hour yields approximately 17144 miles/hour.

a) The orbital speed of an object in a circular orbit can be calculated using the formula v = √(G * M / r), where v is the orbital speed, G is the gravitational constant, M is the mass of the Earth, and r is the distance from the center of the Earth to the object. Plugging in the given values, we get v = √((6.67430 × 10^(-11) m³/(kg·s²)) * (5.976 × 10^(24) kg) / (6.378 × 10^(6) m + 370 × 10^(3) m)) ≈ 7.66 km/s.

b) The orbital period can be calculated using the formula T = (2πr) / v, where T is the orbital period, r is the distance from the center of the Earth to the object, and v is the orbital speed. Plugging in the values, we get T = (2π * (6.378 × 10^(6) m + 370 × 10^(3) m)) / (7.66 km/s * 1000 m/km) ≈ 92.68 minutes.

c) To convert the orbital speed from m/s to miles/hour, we use the conversion factor 1 mile = 1.6 km. Thus, the orbital speed in miles/hour is approximately 7.66 km/s * (3600 s/hour) * (1 mile / 1.6 km) ≈ 17144 miles/hour.

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