The escape velocity at the Earth’s surface is:

The correct answer is Option (1) → 11.2 km/sec

The escape velocity is the least speed with which a body must be thrown from the surface so that it escapes the Earth’s gravity and never falls back. It is given by \(v_{e}=\sqrt{2gR}\), where \(g\) is the acceleration due to gravity and \(R\) the radius of the Earth.

• \(v_{e}=\sqrt{2\times9.8\times6.4\times10^{6}}\,\mathrm{m/s}\approx1.12\times10^{4}\,\mathrm{m/s}\)

• That is about 11.2 km per second