Orbital Acceleration Calculator

Enter the orbital velocity and the radius of the orbit into the calculator to determine the Orbital Acceleration. 

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Orbital Acceleration Formula

The following equation is used to calculate the Orbital Acceleration.

Ao  = Vo^2/ ro

• Where Ao is the Orbital Acceleration (m/s^2)
• Vo is the orbital velocity (m/s)
• ro is the radius of orbit (m)

To calculate the orbital acceleration, square the orbital velocity, then divide by the radius of the orbit.

What are the units for Orbital Acceleration?

The most common units for Orbital Acceleration are m/s^2.

How to Calculate Orbital Acceleration?

Example Problem:

The following example problem outlines the steps and information needed to calculate the Orbital Acceleration.

First, determine the orbital velocity. In this example, the orbital velocity is determined to be 400 (m/s).

Next, determine the radius of orbit. For this problem, the radius of orbit is measured to be 150000 (m).

Finally, calculate the Orbital Acceleration using the formula above: 

Ao  = Vo^2/ ro

Inserting the values from above and solving the equation with the imputed values gives: 

Ao  = 400^2/ 150,000 = 1.066 (m/s^2)