Space Flashcards
What is weight?
The weight of an object is the force experienced by that object due to the presence of a gravitational field
What is weight mathematically?
Weight is measured in newtons and is the mass of the object multiplied by the acceleration due to gravity
What path does a projectile take on earth?
A parabola
What are the two components of projectile motion and how are they analysed?
Vertical and horizontal components and they are analysed independent of one another
What happens to the x component of velocity throughout projectile motion?
It remains constant
What we’re Galileo three main ideas regarding projectile motion?
- All projectiles follow a parabolic path
- Regardless of mass all objects on earth fall at the same rate
- Horizontal and vertical components of velocity are independent of each other
How did Galileo reach the conclusion that all objects accelerate toward the earth at the same rate and that the time and distance travelled have a square relationship?
By developing an experiment involving rolling balls of different masses down a highly polished ramp to make his comparisons. This would allow him to slow down the motion enough to make more accurate observations of the motion, as compared to just dropping balls to the ground
How did Galileo reach the conclusion that projectiles follow parabolic paths?
By rolling balls off a table at different speeds and mapping the motion
How did Galileo reach the conclusion that projectiles in motion express horizontal and vertical components which are independent of each other?
By coming up with a thought experiment we’re a rider of a horse drops a ball in front of a stationary observer
- according to the rider, the ball drops straight down
- according to the stationary observer, the ball travels with the same horizontal velocity as the rider
What is escape velocity?
The velocity required at a planets surface to completely leave its gravitational field without further energy input.
In terms of kinetic and gravitational potential energy, what does escape velocity represent?
The limiting case where the projectile ‘just reaches infinite displacement’ with zero speed.
In other words, a projectile must have the same amount of kinetic energy as the absolute value of the gravitational potential it has at take off.
That is , kinetic energy + gravitational potential energy is greater than or equal to zero
What did newton use to explain the concept of escape velocity?
Newton came up with a thought experiment where a cannon fires a projectile horizontally on the earths surface with no air resistance.
- at first the projectile would follow a parabolic path and hit the ground some time later
- as speed increases, it will take progressively longer for the projectile to hit the ground, because although gravity is pull the projectile in toward the centre of the earth, the earth is also falling away from the object at the same rate due to its horizontal motion
- increase the speed once more and the projectile with never hit the ground and follow a circular orbit around the earth
- increase it even more, the orbit forms and ellipse
- finally increase more and the projectiles motion becomes hyperbolic and it escapes the earths gravitational field.
What are g forces?
Refers to the force experienced by an astronaut in terms of the earths gravitational field on the surface
What are the two forces acting on an astronaut during launch ?
- the upwards thrust T caused by the rocket
- his/her own weight W acting towards the centre of the earth
By Newton’s second law, what is Thrust equal to?
T= ma + mg
Thus
T-mg = ma
What is thrust equal to in a rocket launch?
The apparent weight of the astronaut, by Newton’s third law
What is the formula of g force?
1 + a/g
Apparent weight/real weight
Why are astronauts put into reclined seats during rocket launch?
They are placed in a position which concentrates the force perpendicular to their long body axis, placing it at their backs, which is good because it prevents black out and red out.
Why do astronauts have specially moulded seats?
Increases the surface of the forces
Why is the term g force used?
It’s easy to relate to and it eases calculations regarding the forces experienced by astronauts during launch
What does the law of conservation of momentum state?
The law of conservation of momentum states that in a closed system, the sum of momenta before a change is equal to the sum of momenta after the change
what is gravitational potential energy?
defined as the work down to move an object from a very large distance away to a specific point in a gravitational field
why is gravitational potential energy always negative?
if an object is lifted above a planets surface, work is being done on that object, giving it energy. if energy is given to the object, its gravitational potential energy must increase. but, at an infinite distance away from the plant, the potential energy is zero. so thus this means that it is a bound system and at the planets surface the GPE of the object will be its lowest possible value
what was the michelson morley experiment and what was its aim?
the michelson morley experiment was designed to calulate the velocity of the earth through the aether, on the grounds that light would travel faster in certain directions and slower in others, due to the relative motion between the earth and aether which could create an Aether wind
what were the materials used in the experiment?
- light source
- half silvered mirror
- two mirrors
- light detector
- liquid mercury platform
what happened during the michelson morley experiment?
a light beam was split by a half-silvered mirror, creating two beams at right angles to eachother, and after letting them travel a short distance, they ere recombined.
there had been no change in the interference pattern observed once the two beams of light had rejoined, even when the apparatus had been rotated 90 degrees. this provided a null result, neither proving or disproving the existence of the aether
why was rotating the MM experiment 90 degrees thourght to change the interference pattern creating by the two beams?
given that the aether wind was travelling in a certain direction, either left or right, up or down, the two scientists decided to rotate the entire apparatus 90 degrees and try the experiment multiple times expecting a difference in interference due to the change of the movement of the light against or with the aether wind
what factors affect the strength of the gravitational force?
- the distance between the two objects, the smaller the distance the greater the force
- both masses involved are proportional to the strength of the gravitational force
on earth, what instances may result in derivation from the normal rate of acceleration of 9.8m/s ?
- due to the earths rotation, the equator bulges out and the poles flatten, causing the poles to be closer to the centre of the earth than the equator. thus, the gravitational force of the earth is stronger at the poles than at the equator
- the strength of the field varies with nearby geography. places where the lithosphere is thick(dense mineral deposists or mountain ranges) experience greater gravitational force compard to places of less dense rock or water
- gravitational force also depends on altitude. high altitudes experience less gravitational force than areas at or below sea level
- spin of the earth causes all objects on the surface to experience a centrifugal force which lowers the value of g.
what is uniform circular motion?
refers to the motion of objects which follow a circular path. it is a very common two dimensional force exhibited in many systems
what are some examples of systems in uniform circular motion?
- the moon revolving around the earth
- artificial satellites
- cars travelling around a corner
describe the velocity and speed of an object in uniform circular motion?
the speed of the object is constant, but because the object in circular motion is always changing direction, the object is constantly accelerating.
describe the force experienced by an object in uniform circular motion
when an object is moving in a circular path uniformly, the acceleration is centre seeking and always acts towards the centre of the circular path. in the same direction of acceleration, an object travelling in a circular path experiences a centripetal force which is also centre seeking
what is the centripetal force acting on a satellite?
the centripetal force is sourced from the gravitaitional force of attraction between it and the earth
define newtons universal law of gravitation
Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that a particle attracts every other particle in the universe using a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
what is the orbital altitude of low earth orbits?
between 250km to 1000km, below the van allen radiation belts
what is the orbital period of low earth orbits ?
90minutes
what is the orbital velocity of a low earth orbit?
8m/s
what are low earth orbits used for?
spying missions performed by the military
surveying weather conditions
mapping ecological threats
what is the orbital altitude of a geostationary orbit?
35800km