A body is projected vertically upwards from the surface of a planet of radius \(R\) with a velocity equal to…

A body is projected vertically upwards from the surface of a planet of radius \(R\) with a velocity equal to half the escape velocity of that planet. Then, the maximum height attained by the body is
  1. \(\frac{R}{3}\)
  2. \(\frac{R}{2}\)
  3. \(\frac{R}{4}\)
  4. \(\frac{R}{5}\)

Solution

If a body is projected vertically upwards with a velocity of \(v\) from the surface of planet, then maximum height attained by the body is \(h=\frac{v^2 R}{2 g R-v^2}\) ...(i) But given that, \(\begin{aligned} v & =\frac{v_e}{2}=\frac{\sqrt{2 g R}}{2} \Rightarrow v^2=\frac{2 g R}{4} \\ v^2 & =\frac{g R}{2} \quad \ldots (ii) \end{aligned}\) From Eqs. (i) and (ii), we get \(h=\frac{\frac{g R}{2} \cdot R}{2 g R-\frac{g R}{2}}=\frac{\frac{g R^2}{2}}{\frac{3 g R}{2}} \Rightarrow h=\frac{R}{3}\)

Asked in: AP EAMCET 2020 (18 Sep Shift 2)

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