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Is it possible for a glider to glide around the earth if launched from the top of Mount Fuji the worlds tallest mountain?
Mount Erevest
6 Answers
- electron1Lv 72 years agoFavorite Answer
Using physics, the only thing that can be determined is the speed the glider must have to orbit the earth. For an object to orbit the earth, the centripetal force must be equal to the Universal gravitational force.
Fc = m * v^2 ÷ r
Fg = G * M * m ÷ r^2
m * v^2 ÷ r = G * M * m ÷ r^2
v^2 = G * M ÷ r
v = √(G * M ÷ r)
G * M = 6.67 * 10^-11 * 5.98 * 10^24 = 3.98866 * 10^14
r is the distance from the center of the earth to the glider. As I looked through the intent, I found that the average height of Mount Everest is 8,848 meters. The radius of the earth is 6.38 * 10^6 meters.
r = 8,848 + 6.38 * 10^6 = 6.388848 * 10^6 meters.
v = √(3.98866 * 10^14 ÷ 6.388848 * 10^6)
The velocity is approximately 7,902 m/s. If rocket could increase the velocity of the rocket from 0 m/s to approximately 7,902 m/s, the glider would orbit the earth. I hope this is helpful for you.
- ?Lv 72 years ago
Have you ever BEEN to the top of Mount Everest?
It is freezing, the winds are ferocious and the air density is very low.
It is improbable that a glider could stay aloft. The most likely outcome would be immediate crashing.
However without updrafts the angle of glide at this altitude would be quite steep. Possibly 1 in 5.
It would flatten out as the air became warmer and denser.
Perhaps 1 in 10
so that the maximum distance the glider could go without updrafts ( a source of energy) would be about 9000 m * 10 = 90 km.
Perhaps a glider could do a lesser glide slope, increasing the distance but 3 or 4 times this distance is nowhere near the distances you describe.
Updrafts are the key to a long flight.
I watch pelicans at my place. They are born and bred to find these thermals. You watch them circling over a paddock gaining height effortlessly. They are magnificent flyers and well beyond what we puny humans can do.
Perhaps the best is the ocean going Albatross. They are champions of the effortless glide.
Maybe if we learned something from THEM we could do a lot better.
- Anonymous2 years ago
with the weight of all the pot , it would not make it .
- Old Man DirtLv 72 years ago
At present the longest glider flight is 1023 miles (out and back). The distance a glider will glide is dependent on how many "up-drafts" it can catch and not just the elevation. In all honesty I don't think a glider could fly that far even un-manned (using artificial intelligence). The oceans are such that up-drafts seldom happen (too uniform of surface temperature).