Question

The orbital period of revolution of an artificial satellite revolving in a geostationary orbit is …
(a). 24 Hrs.
(b). 48 Hrs.
(c). 12 Hrs.
(d). 6 Hrs.

Answer 1

Hint: Geostationary orbit is the circular orbit about 35,900 km above the Earth’s equator and has a period of same direction and duration as of the Earth’s rotation.

Complete step by step answer:
According to Astronomy, we can say that the time taken to complete one orbit or revolution of an object by another astronomical object is the orbital period of revolution. And it has already been given that the artificial satellite is in the geostationary orbit that is the orbit in which the time taken by the satellite to complete one orbital revolution of Earth should be equal to the time taken by Earth to complete one rotation along its axis.
We already know that the time taken by Earth in completing one rotation along its axis is 23 hours and 56 minutes or approximately 24 hrs. Thus, the time taken by the artificial satellite in completing one revolution should be 24 hrs.
Hence option a is the correct answer.

Additional Information:
The satellites that have been placed intentionally into the orbit are called the artificial satellites and are generally used for purposes like Earth observation, communication, navigation, weather etc. They have a definite lifetime and are very well placed so as to not get overlapped with the orbit of any other satellite.

Note: The orbit around earth which we call the geostationary orbit is precisely the one above the equator and has the same sense of direction as of the Earth rotation. There can be infinitely many orbits around the earth having a longer or shorter time period of revolution than the geostationary orbit. So, we need to be careful about its definition.