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Home > Courses > 1P21_Razavi
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Calculate the acceleration due to gravity
(i) at sea level on the surface of
the Earth, and
(ii) on top of Mount Everest (height= 8850 m).
( Data: mass of the Earth ME = 5.98 X 1024 kg;
radius of the Earth RE = 6.38 X 106 m;
gravitaional constant G = 6.67 X 10-11 N m2 kg-2
)
Note:
The Earth is not a perfect sphere. It bulges out at the equator, the polar radius is shorter
than the equatorial radius.
So the value of g at the equator is less than that at the pole.
The Earth has mountains and valleys and in addition, its mass is not distributed uniformly,
i.e., the density is not the same at all
points. All of these and also the rotation of the Earth about its axis, affect the value of 'g'.
We'll consider the average value to be 9.80 m/s2
and use this value, unless otherwise specified
(see the Table in the next item on the course page).
The weight of an object close to the surface of the Earth will be considered to be W = mg, with g=9.80 m/s2
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