The mass and radius of the earth and moon are $M_1, R_1$ and $M_2, R_2$ respectively. Their centres are at a…

The mass and radius of the earth and moon are $M_1, R_1$ and $M_2, R_2$ respectively. Their centres are at a distance $d$ apart. The minimum speed with which a body of mass $m$ should be projected from a distance $\left(\frac{2 d}{3}\right)$ from the centre of $M_1$ so as to escape to $\propto$ is
  1. $\left[\frac{3 G\left(M_1+2 M_2\right)}{d}\right]^{\frac{1}{2}}$
  2. $\left[\frac{3 G\left(M_1-M_2\right)}{2 d}\right]^{\frac{1}{2}}$
  3. $\left[\frac{6 G\left(M_1-M_2\right)}{2 d}\right]^{\frac{1}{2}}$
  4. $\left[\frac{6 G\left(M_1+M_2\right)}{d}\right]^{\frac{1}{2}}$

Solution

If the mass $m$ is at a distance $\frac{2}{3} d$ from the centre of $M_1$ then it is located at a distance $\frac{d}{3}$ from the centre of $M_2$. To calculate the kinetic energy required to make the body escape Earth and moon system: the change in gravitational potential energy between final and initial location should be equal to the kinetic energy given to the mass $m$. $\begin{aligned} & \therefore \frac{1}{2} m v_e^2=\left[\frac{G M_1 m}{\left(\frac{2 d}{3}\right)}+\frac{G M_2 m}{\left(\frac{d}{3}\right)}\right] \\ & \Rightarrow \frac{1}{2} m v_e^2=\frac{3 G\left(M_1+2 M_2\right) m}{2 d}\end{aligned}$ Therefore, escape velocity $v_e=\sqrt{\frac{3 G\left(M_1+2 M_2\right)}{d}}$

Asked in: MHT CET 2022 (10 Aug Shift 2)

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