Quick questions on Gravitational potential energy and escape velocity explained: HSC Physics Module 5

2short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.

What is escape velocity?

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Escape velocity

v_{\text{esc}}

is the minimum speed needed at a distance

r

for an object to reach infinity with zero remaining kinetic energy. By conservation of energy:

What is wrong reference point?

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Zero potential energy is at infinity, not at the planet's surface or centre.

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