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Projectile Launched around the Earth
Projectile Launched around the Earth
Suppose that a projectile is launched at a height from the surface of the Earth (idealized here as a perfect sphere). If the initial velocity () or the height is not large enough, the projectile can not travel very far during the time , subject to its gravitational attraction. However, with a larger velocity, the projectile can travel a considerable distance around the Earth, and even remain in elliptical orbit if the velocity is large enough.
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Pictures illustrating these facts were published in Newton's Principia.