GCSE level questions on the Earth in Space
Q2.
The diagram, which is not to scale, shows two satellites, L and M, orbiting the Earth.
(a) Complete the following table. Each letter, L or M, may be used once, more than once or not at all.
| Statement about the satellite |
Letter for the satellite |
| It is used as a monitoring satellite. |
|
| It is a geostationary satellite. |
|
| It takes 24 hours to complete its orbit. |
|
(2 marks)
(b) For a satellite to stay in a steady orbit around the Earth, what must be kept constant? (1 mark)
(c) Thousands of satellites are now in orbit around the Earth. A student used the Internet to collect information about some of them.
Name of satellite |
Average distance from the centre of the Earth in kilometres |
Speed in kilometres per second |
Time taken to orbit the Earth |
The Moon |
391,400 |
1.01 |
28 days |
GEO |
42,200 |
3.07 |
1 day |
Navstar |
26,600 |
3.87 |
12 hours |
Lageos |
12,300 |
5.70 |
3.8 hours |
HST |
7,000 |
7.56 |
97 mins |
| ISS |
6,700 |
7.68 |
92 mins |
(i) The Moon takes a longer time than any of the other satellites to orbit the Earth. Give one other way in which the Moon is different from the other satellites in the table. (1 mark)
(ii) What conclusion on the relationship between the average distance and speed can the student come to on the basis of this data? (1 mark)
(iii) What conclusion on the relationship between the speed and the time taken to orbit the Earth can the student come to on the basis of this data? (1 mark)
(Total 6 marks)
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