ONE FORMULA, ONE ANSWER
Fluid Satellite Roche Limit Calculator
Estimate the classical tidal disruption distance for a fluid satellite without tensile strength. Choose input units and calculate one value within the stated conditions.
Inputs
Calculations run in this browser. Scientific notation such as 1.2e-3 is supported. Do not group thousands.
Result
Fluid Roche limit from center d_R
Enter values and select Calculate.
d_R = 2.44 R (ρ_M/ρ_m)^(1/3)
Assumptions
Required: positive inputs, a low-mass synchronously rotating incompressible fluid satellite on a circular orbit and a spherical primary. The coefficient is fixed at 2.44. Output is center distance, not altitude. The app infers M=(4π/3)ρ_M R³ and restricts r_s(M)/R≤0.01. Excluded: rigid-body strength, rock cohesion, nonsynchronous rotation, eccentric orbits and relativity. A limit inside the primary surface is reported as no external orbital limit.
Displayed values are floating-point approximations. Design safety factors and unprovided error contributions are not calculated.
Formula references and credits
NaNa Lab created the code, descriptions, icons and preview images. Text, figures and code from the linked references have not been reproduced.
Physical constants: NIST / CODATA 2022. The values of μ₀ and ε₀ are measured recommendations, not exact defining constants. Values and precision notes are in the source record.
This site includes Google advertising and analytics, and Cloudflare analytics.