Principles of Physics: A Calculus-Based Text
Principles of Physics: A Calculus-Based Text
5th Edition
ISBN: 9781133104261
Author: Raymond A. Serway, John W. Jewett
Publisher: Cengage Learning
Question

The International Space Station (ISS) has a mass of about 441,000 kg and orbits at a height of about 4.0 x 105 meters above the surface of Earth. If the average U.S. household uses about 40 billion joules (4.0 x 1010 J) of energy in a year, how many households could be powered for a year by the gravitational potential energy stored in the ISS? The height of the ISS above Earth's surface is small enough that you can still use mgh as a reasonable approximation to calculate the gravitational potential energy.

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