Physics Answer Book Flashcards
If someone could be placed in the center of the earth, what would they weigh?
If a person were placed directly in the center of the earth then there would be equal amounts of mass above below in front behind to the left and to the right of that person.
They would be attracted to all this mass, therefore she would weigh zero, or completely weightless!
Why do objects fall to the ground?
The reason why the Apple is moving more than the earth is because the earth has much more mass than the Apple, that is more inertia; as a result, the earth is less willing to move toward the Apple.
The fired bullet versus a falling bullet both fall to the earth at the same exact time.
If a bullet is given a horizontal velocity in addition to its downward acceleration due to gravity, it will continue to move across as it falls down, but it still keeps falling at the same speed which is 9.8 m/s squared. Just like that bullet that was dropped, both the dropped bullet and a bullet fired horizontally hit the ground at the exact time if the ground is level.
How does an object stay in orbit around the earth?
A cannonball, as Newton suggested, could orbit the earth if given enough horizontal or sideways velocity. All objects continually fall toward the earth, yet if that falling motion is combined with a large horizontal motion, By the time the cannonball were to hit the ground, the surface of the earth would’ve already curved away from the cannonball. Therefore the cannonball continues around the earth, establishing an orbit. In fact, the cannonball or any satellite would continually fall toward the earth, yet continually miss it as well.
Does the space shuttle orbit around the earth or fall toward it?
The space shuttle falls toward the earth just as the cannonball falls toward the earth.
Falling to the earth while never striking it is called orbiting.
If the shuttle were giving a greater velocity, it would take on an elliptical orbit.
Throughout the entire universe, there is a fixed amount of energy and it will never change. The law specifically states that energy cannot be created or destroyed.
If you look at a normal screw with all of the ridges on it you could just imagine that if you could unwrap this twisted edge of a screw from the shaft, you would have a long inclined plane.
The geographic poles are actually the location on earths axis of rotation.
When a compass points north it is really pointing to the south pole because opposites attract.
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