Satellites: A satellite is orbiting the earth. If a payload of material is added until it doubles the satellite's mass, the earth's pull of gravity on this satellite will double but the satellite's orbit will not be affected.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

According to the law of gravity, the force of gravity between two objects is proportional to their masses. Therefore, if the satellite's mass doubled, the force of gravity between the satellite and the earth would double as well. However, the satellite's orbit would not be affected as long as the additional payload was evenly distributed and did not cause any significant imbalances in the satellite's structure. This is because the orbital velocity of a satellite depends only on its altitude and the mass of the planet it is orbiting, not on the satellite's mass.

Satellites: a Satellite Is Orbiting the Earth