In other words, the object's path will be turning exactly the same way as the Earth's surface is. That is, the amount of curving of the object's path due to the attraction for this particular velocity is neither too much nor too little and as a result, a circular orbit is created. Once an object is given this initial velocity, it will achieve a circular orbit forever. The formula that determines this proper circular velocity is derived using Newton's laws. V c depends on the mass m of the planet and the distance R the object is from the center of the planet.
Circular velocity is required to put an object in orbit around the Earth.
In this case note that what keeps the object in orbit is the gravitational attraction force between the object and Earth. Going to our previous thought experiment, that means that the velocity with which the object must be launched to escape the Earth's attraction forever must, be greater than V c . That means that the object's path will not be turning as much as the Earth's surface and as a result the object will be moving away from the Earth. Note, that not all velocities greater than V c will result in escape. When an object's launching velocity has a value between those of the circular and escape velocities, the object moves in an elliptical path.