In 3001: The final odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke writes of a tower that stretches from in Earth’s equator to geosynchronous orbit. (a) The hero, Frunk Poole, finds himself in the tower and estimates the acceleration of free fall at his altitude to be g/2. Taking into account rotational motion, what is Poole’s altitude? (b) Calculate the work necessary to raise a 100-kg mass from the surface of the Earth up through the tower to the geosynchronous altitude. Compare your result in the energy expenditure of a rocket that can do the same thing today, (Hint: Assume that the rotational correction is small, and solve iteratively.)

Radhika Batra , 9 Years ago

Grade 11