Question

Calculate the speed in m/s that the Millennium Falcon would need to reach to escape the gravitational pull of the Death Star.

Answer 1

Answer:

29.2 m/s

Explanation:

The escape velocity of an object from the surface of a planet is given by:

$v=\sqrt{\frac{2GM}{r}}$

where

G is the gravitational constant

M is the mass of the planet

r is the radius of the planet

In this problem, we have

$M=5.1\cdot 10^{17} kg$ is the mass of the Death Star

$r=\frac{160,000 m}{2}=80,000 m$ is its radius

Substituting into the equation, we find

$v=\sqrt{\frac{2(6.67\cdot 10^{-11} m^3 kg^{-1} s^{-2})(5.1\cdot 10^{17} kg)}{80,000 m}}=29.2 m/s$