Since the centripetal force is caused by gravitational force, we cannot state centripetal force as the real cause of motion. satellites primarily experience gravitational force during orbit. It is important to understand the relationship between orbital velocity, mass of planet a satellite is orbiting around and the radius of orbit.įorces acting on an object in orbit: objects e.g. This is called the orbital velocity as circular motion in this context is simply orbiting around Earth. In essence, when a satellite is orbiting around Earth due to gravity, the centripetal force (circular motion) is strictly caused by gravitational force.īy rearranging the equation (see above), we can determine the velocity needed for the satellite to achieve this circular motion. The direction of this force is pointing towards the centre of Earth. In space, a satellite experiences gravitational force exerted by Earth. Orbital Motion of Planets and Artificial Satellites investigate the orbital motion of planets and artificial satellites when applying the relationships between the following quantities:.If the mass of one object is doubled, find the change of the force.Įxplain how the acceleration due to gravity varies according to the planet’s altitudes. If the distance between two masses is doubled, find the change of the force.ii. Shape of the earth, equatorial diameters are greater than polar diameters, therefore they have lower acceleration due to gravity, while at the poles it has a stronger gravitational forceĭiscuss the following situations with regards to gravitational forcei.Distance from the earth’s centre – altitude.There are several factors which influence the value of g. These two terms are used interchangeably. Gravitational acceleration is also referred to as the strength of gravitational field. Thus, when describing this force quantitatively, the masses are those of Earth and the object experiencing gravity respectively.Īdditionally, by applying Newton’s second law F = ma, we can determine the acceleration an object is experiencing due to this force: Gravity arises from the gravitational attraction between Earth and an object in its gravitational field. The most important application of this law is the concept of gravity. r is the distance between the centre of the masses in metres (m). G is the gravitational constant 6.67 x 10 –11. Quantitatively, this is expressed in the formula:į is the gravitational force between two masses M & m (both in kg). The magnitude of this force is directly proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the square of their distance apart. There exists a force of attraction between any two masses of any distance. Qualitatively: Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation
Investigate the factors that affect the gravitational field strength predict the gravitational field strength at any point in a gravitational field, including at the surface of a planet Apply qualitatively and quantitatively Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation to:ĭetermine the force of gravity between two objects.
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