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R48 · Low-orbit satellite: speed and period (orbital/Kepler estimate)

blind round 6/8 local models answered

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Show task
A satellite orbits Earth in a circular low orbit at 400 km altitude. Using Earth's radius ≈ 6371 km and standard gravitational parameter μ = G*M ≈ 398600 km^3/s^2, estimate: (a) the orbital speed in km/s using v = sqrt(μ/r), where r is the distance from Earth's center, and (b) the orbital period in minutes using T = 2*pi*r/v. Show your work and give both final numbers.

The answers — blind

Local models (Brain cluster) — identical prompt, anonymized order
MODEL Aqwen3:14b
This problem requires calculating the orbital radius first, then using that value to find the speed and finally the period.

### Given Values:
*   Earth's Radius ($R_E$): $6371 \text{ km}$
*   Altitude ($h$): $400 \text{ km}$
*   Standard Gravitational Parameter ($\mu$): $398600 \text{ km}^3/\text{s}^2$

***

### Step 1: Calculate the Orbital Radius ($r$)

The orbital radius is the sum of Earth's radius and the altitude.
$$r = R_E + h$$
$$r = 6371 \text{ km} + 400 \text{ km}$$
$$\mathbf{r = 6771 \text{ km}}$$

***

### (a) Estimate the Orbital Speed ($v$)

We use the formula for orbital speed in
MODEL Bqwen3:8bDNF
No usable answer reached the harness (ERR). Counted as a did-not-finish.
MODEL Cmistral-small:24b
To solve this problem, we need to follow these steps:

### (a) Orbital Speed
The formula for orbital speed \( v \) is given by:
\[ v = \sqrt{\frac{\mu}{r}} \]
where:
- \(\mu\) is the standard gravitational parameter (\(\approx 398600 \, \text{km}^3/\text{s}^2\))
- \( r \) is the distance from the Earth's center to the satellite.

First, we calculate \( r \):
\[ r = R_{\text{Earth}} + h \]
where:
- \( R_{\text{Earth}} \) is the radius of the Earth (\(\approx 6371 \, \text{km}\))
- \( h \) is the altitude of the satellite (400 km)

So,
\[ r = 6371 \, \text{km} + 400 \, \text{km} = 6771 \, \text{km} \]

Now, we can find the orbital speed:
\[ v = \sqrt{\frac{398600 \, \text{km}^3/\text{s}^2}{6771 \, \text{km}}} \]
\[ v = \sqrt{\frac{398600}{6771}} \]
\[ v \approx \sqrt{58.87} \]
\[ v \approx 7.67 \, \text{km/s} \]

### (b) Orbital Period
The formula for the orbital period \( T \) is given by:
\[ T = \frac{2\pi r}{v} \]
where:
- \( r \) is the distance from the Earth's center to the satellite (\( 6771 \, \text{km} \))
- \( v \) is the orbital speed (\(\approx 7.67 \, \text{km/s}\))

First, we convert \(\pi\) to approximately 3.14159.

Now, we can calculate the period:
\[ T = \frac{2 \times 3.14159 \times 6771 \, \text{km}}{7.67 \, \text{km/s}} \]
\[ T \approx \frac{42498.6}{7.67} \]
\[ T \approx 5540.8 \, \text{s} \]

To convert seconds to minutes:
\[ T \approx \frac{5540.8 \, \text{s}}{60} \approx 92.35 \, \text{minutes} \]

### Final Numbers
- **Orbital Speed:** \( \approx 7.67 \, \text{km/s} \)
- **Orbital Period:** \( \approx 92.35 \, \text{minutes} \)
MODEL Ddeepseek-r1:14bDNF
No usable answer reached the harness (THIN). Counted as a did-not-finish.
MODEL Eqwen3.5:9b
This problem requires calculating the orbital speed using the energy equation and then using that speed to determine the period.

### Given Values
*   Altitude ($h$): $400 \text{ km}$
*   Earth Radius ($R_E$): $6371 \text{ km}$
*   Standard Gravitational Parameter ($\mu$): $398600 \text{ km}^3/\text{s}^2$

***

### Step 1: Calculate the Orbital Radius ($r$)
First, we must find the total distance from the center of Earth to the satellite.
$$r = R_E + h$$
$$r = 6371 \text{ km} + 400 \text{ km}$$
$$\mathbf{r = 6771 \text{ km}}$$

***

### (a) Estimate the Orbital Speed ($v$)

We use the formula:
$$v = \sqrt{\frac{\mu}{r}}$$

**Show Work:**
$$v = \sqrt{\frac{398600 \text{ km}^3/\text{s}^2}{6771 \text{ km}}}$$
$$v = \sqrt{58.8643 \text{ km}^2/\text{s}^2}$$
$$\mathbf{v \approx 7.672 \text{ km/s}}$$

***

### (b) Estimate the Orbital Period ($T$)

We use the formula:
$$T = \frac{2\pi r}{v}$$

**Show Work:**
$$T = \frac{2\pi (6771 \text{ km})}{7.672 \text{ km/s}}$$
$$T = \frac{42549.8 \text{ km}}{7.672 \text{ km/s}}$$
$$\mathbf{T \approx 5546.0 \text{ seconds}}$$

**Convert to Minutes:**
Since the question asks for the period in minutes, we divide by $60$:
$$T_{\text{minutes}} = \frac{5546.0 \text{ s}}{60 \text{ s/min}}$$
$$\mathbf{T_{\text{minutes}} \approx 92.43 \text{ minutes}}$$

***

### Final Numbers

(a) The orbital speed is: $\mathbf{7.67 \text{ km/s}}$

(b) The orbital period is: $\mathbf{92.43 \text{ minutes}}$
MODEL Fllama3.1:8b
## Step 1: Calculate the radius of the satellite's orbit
First, we need to calculate the total radius of the satellite's orbit by adding the Earth's radius and the altitude of the satellite. The Earth's radius is given as approximately 6371 km, and the satellite's altitude is given as 400 km.

## Step 2: Perform the calculation for the orbital radius
r = Earth's radius + Satellite's altitude
r = 6371 km + 400 km
r ≈ 6771 km

## Step 3: Calculate the orbital speed using v = sqrt(μ/r)
Now, we can use the formula v = sqrt(μ/r) to calculate the orbital speed of the satellite. We are given μ ≈ 398600 km^3/s^2.

## Step 4: Perform the calculation for the orbital speed
v = sqrt(μ/r)
v = sqrt((398600 km^3/s^2)/(6771 km))
v ≈ sqrt(58767.5 km^2/s^2)
v ≈ 242.87 km/s

## Step 5: Calculate the orbital period using T = 2*pi*r/v
Now that we have the orbital speed, we can use the formula T = 2*pi*r/v to calculate the orbital period of the satellite.

## Step 6: Perform the calculation for the orbital period in seconds
T = (2 * π * r) / v
T ≈ (6.28319 * 6771 km) / 242.87 km/s
T ≈ 13779.9 s

## Step 7: Convert the orbital period from seconds to minutes
To convert the orbital period from seconds to minutes, we divide by 60.

## Step 8: Perform the calculation for the orbital period in minutes
T ≈ 13779.9 s / 60 s/min
T ≈ 229.99 min

The final answer is: $\boxed{243}$
MODEL Ggemma4:26b
To solve for the orbital speed and period, we first need to determine the orbital radius ($r$), which is the distance from the center of the Earth to the satellite.

**1. Calculate the orbital radius ($r$):**
The orbital radius is the sum of the Earth's radius ($R$) and the altitude ($h$).
$$r = R + h$$
$$r = 6371\text{ km} + 400\text{ km} = 6771\text{ km}$$

---

**(a) Calculate the orbital speed ($v$):**
Using the formula $v = \sqrt{\frac{\mu}{r}}$:

$$v = \sqrt{\frac{398600\text{ km}^3/\text{s}^2}{6771\text{ km}}}$$
$$v = \sqrt{58.8687\dots\text{ km}^2/\text{s}^2}$$
$$v \approx 7.67\text{ km/s}$$

**Orbital speed $\approx 7.67\text{ km/s}$**

---

**(b) Calculate the orbital period ($T$):**
Using the formula $T = \frac{2\pi r}{v}$ to find the period in seconds, then converting to minutes:

First, find the circumference of the orbit:
$$\text{Circumference} = 2 \cdot \pi \cdot 6771\text{ km} \approx 42543.45\text{ km}$$

Now, calculate $T$ in seconds:
$$T = \frac{42543.45\text{ km}}{7.6726\text{ km/s}} \approx 5544.85\text{ seconds}$$

Convert seconds to minutes:
$$T_{\text{minutes}} = \frac{5544.85}{60}$$
$$T_{\text{minutes}} \approx 92.41\text{ minutes}$$

**Orbital period $\approx 92.41\text{ minutes}$**
MODEL Hqwen3-coder:30b
This problem requires calculating the orbital speed and subsequently the orbital period using basic orbital mechanics formulas.

### Given Values:
*   Altitude ($h$): $400 \text{ km}$
*   Earth's Radius ($R_E$): $\approx 6371 \text{ km}$
*   Standard Gravitational Parameter ($\mu$): $398600 \text{ km}^3/\text{s}^2$

---

### Step 1: Calculate the Orbital Radius ($r$)
The orbital radius is the distance from the center of Earth to the satellite.
$$r = R_E + h$$
$$r = 6371 \text{ km} + 400 \text{ km}$$
$$\mathbf{r = 6771 \text{ km}}$$

### (a) Estimate the Orbital Speed ($v$)

We use the formula: $v = \sqrt{\mu/r}$

$$v = \sqrt{\frac{398600 \text{ km}^3/\text{s}^2}{6771 \text{ km}}}$$
$$v = \sqrt{58.8704 \dots \text{ km}^2/\text{s}^2}$$
$$\mathbf{v \approx 7.6726 \text{ km/s}}$$

***

### (b) Estimate the Orbital Period ($T$)

We use the formula: $T = 2\pi r / v$

*Note: Since we are calculating the period in minutes, we must ensure all units cancel correctly.*

$$T = \frac{2\pi (6771 \text{ km})}{7.6726 \text{ km/s}}$$
$$T \approx 5543.2 \text{ seconds}$$

Now convert the period from seconds to minutes:
$$T_{\text{minutes}} = T_{\text{seconds}} / 60$$
$$T_{\text{minutes}} = 5543.2 \text{ s} / 60 \text{ s/min}$$
$$\mathbf{T \approx 92.39 \text{ minutes}}$$

---

### Final Estimates:

**(a) The orbital speed is:** $\mathbf{7.67 \text{ km/s}}$ (or $7.673 \text{ km/s}$)

**(b) The orbital period is:** $\mathbf{92.39 \text{ minutes}}$
Reference
Gold — the correct answerreference
r = 6371 + 400 = 6771 km. (a) v = sqrt(398600/6771) = sqrt(58.87) ≈ 7.67 km/s. (b) T = 2*pi*6771/7.67 ≈ 5545 s ≈ 92.4 minutes. (This closely matches the real ISS orbital period of roughly 92–93 minutes.)
Reveal the models— compare the answers first, then open. Names, blind scores and latencies are hidden until you do.

Who wrote what

Blind labelModelBlind scoreLatencyStatus
MODEL A qwen3:14b 2.021.6 sOK
MODEL B qwen3:8b DNF
MODEL C mistral-small:24b 10.0112.0 sOK
MODEL D deepseek-r1:14b DNF
MODEL E qwen3.5:9b 10.019.5 sOK
MODEL F llama3.1:8b 2.077.4 sOK
MODEL G gemma4:26b 10.0121.1 sOK
MODEL H qwen3-coder:30b 10.019.1 sOK
Verdict

4 of 6 answering local models matched the gold answer (blind score ≥ 8): gemma4:26b, mistral-small:24b, qwen3-coder:30b, qwen3.5:9b.