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How much work is done by the force of gravity on the moon after one complete orb

ID: 1464214 • Letter: H

Question

How much work is done by the force of gravity on the moon after one complete orbit around the Earth? Given: distance from the moon to earth = 3.8 x 10^8 meters; mass of the moon = 7.3 x 10^22 kg; speed of the moon relative to the earth = 1 km/s. Work = Force*distance = (mass*acceleration*distance). Can I use F_gravity = GMm / R to obtain the magnitude of the force, and multiply that value with Circumference of orbit = 2*Pi*R_distance between the Earth and moon? In that case, I got W_gravity = 1.83 x 10^38 J ... If this is correct but there is another means to get the value for acceleration for m*a*d = F, please let me know. Many thanks!

Explanation / Answer

here,

distance from the moon to earth, r = 3.8 * 10^8 m
mass of the moon, m = 7.3 * 10^22 kg
speed of the moon relative to the earth, v = 1 km/s

Work done due to gravity force will be as gravity force is a conservative force.

A conservative force is a force with the property that the work done in moving a particle between two points is independent of the taken path.

Equivalently, if a particle travels in a closed loop, the net work done (the sum of the force acting along the path multiplied by the distance travelled) by a conservative force is zero

Work done = F * D * Cos90
w = 0 J

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