Program assessment - we will fill this out during our final class

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GMQDTR3

Newton and Gravitation

Newton

Newton's take on orbits was quite different. For him, Kepler's laws were a manifestation of the bigger "truth" of universal gravitation. That is:

All bodies have gravity unto them. Not just the Earth and Sun and planets, but ALL bodies (including YOU). Of course, the gravity for all of these is not equal. Far from it. The force of gravity can be summarized in an equation:

F = G m1 m2 / d^2

or.... the force of gravitation is equal to a constant ("big G") times the product of the masses, divided by the distance between them (between their centers, to be precise) squared.

Big G = 6.67 x 10^-11, which is a tiny number - therefore, you need BIG masses to see appreciable gravitational forces.

This is an INVERSE SQUARE law, meaning that:

- if the distance between the bodies is doubled, the force becomes 1/4 of its original value
- if the distance is tripled, the force becomes 1/9 the original amount
- etc.

Weight

Weight is a result of local gravitation. Since F = G m1 m2 / d^2, and the force of gravity (weight) is equal to m g, we can come up with a simple expression for local gravity (g):

g = G m(planet) / d^2

Likewise, this is an inverse square law. The further you are from the surface of the Earth, the weaker the gravitational acceleration. With normal altitudes, the value for g goes down only slightly, but it's enough for the air to become thinner (and for you to notice it immediately!).

Note that d is the distance from the CENTER of the Earth - this is the Earth's radius, if you're standing on the surface.

If you were above the surface of the earth an amount equal to the radius of the Earth, thereby doubling your distance from the center of the Earth, the value of g would be 1/4 of 9.8 m/s/s. If you were 2 Earth radii above the surface, the value of g would be 1/9 of 9.8 m/s/s.

The value of g also depends on the mass of the planet. The Moon is 1/4 the diameter of the Earth and about 1/81 its mass. You can check this but, this gives the Moon a g value of around 1.7 m/s/s. For Jupiter, it's around 25 m/s/s.

Kepler's Laws

Kepler's Laws

Kepler's laws of planetary motion

http://astro.unl.edu/naap/ssm/animations/ptolemaic.swf

http://astro.unl.edu/naap/pos/animations/kepler.swf


Johannes Kepler, 1571-1630

Note that these laws apply equally well to all orbiting bodies (moons, satellites, comets, etc.)

1. Planets take elliptical orbits, with the Sun at one focus. (If we were talking about satellites, the central gravitating body, such as the Earth, would be at one focus.) Nothing is at the other focus. Recall that a circle is the special case of the ellipse, wherein the two focal points are coincident. Some bodies, such as the Moon, take nearly circular orbits - that is, the eccentricity is very small.

2. The Area Law. Planets "sweep out" equal areas in equal times. See the applets for pictorial clarification. This means that in any 30 day period, a planet will sweep out a sector of space - the area of this sector is the same, regardless of the 30 day period. A major result of this is that the planet travels fastest when near the Sun.

3. The Harmonic Law. Consider the semi-major axis of a planet's orbit around the Sun - that's half the longest diameter of its orbit. This distance (a) is proportional to the amount of time to go around the Sun in a very peculiar fashion:

a^3 = T^2

That is to say, the semi-major axis CUBED (to the third power) is equal to the period (time) SQUARED. This assumes that we choose convenient units:

- the unit of a is the Astronomical Unit (AU), equal to the semi-major axis of Earth's orbit (approximately the average distance between Earth and Sun). This is around 150 million km or around 93 million miles

- the unit of time is the (Earth) year

The image below calls period P (rather than T), but the meaning is the same:

Example problem:  Consider an asteroid with a semi-major axis of orbit of 4 AU. We can quickly calculate that its period of orbit is 8 years (since 4 cubed equals 8 squared).

Likewise for Pluto: a = 40 AU. T works out to be around 250 years.


The applets I referenced::

http://www.physics.sjsu.edu/tomley/kepler.html

http://www.physics.sjsu.edu/tomley/Kepler12.html
for Kepler's laws, primarily the 2nd law

http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/~zhu/ast210/geocentric.html
for our discussion on geocentrism and how retrograde motion appears within this conceptual framework

Cool:
http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/109N/more_stuff/flashlets/kepler6.htm

Homework - due NEXT class!

Also, make sure that your lab group has submitted the complete informal Mechanics lab.

Phinal Physics Phun-signment!  (Get it?)

1.  You have a model rocket with a mass of 0.050 kg.  It contains an engine that delivers a thrust force of 10-N for 0.8 seconds.  Answer the following questions based on this data.

a.  What is the weight of this rocket?

b.  What is the NET force acting on this rocket during the thrust period?  (Keep in mind that the engine pushes up, while the weight acts down.)

c.  What will be the acceleration of this rocket?

d.  If we assume that the rocket starts at rest, what will be the final velocity of the rocket before the engine stops burning?

e.  How high will the rocket go during this time period?

f.  Will the rocket continue to rise after the engine burns out?  If not, how far additionally will it rise?


2.  Consider standing on a scale in an elevator.  The scale has a spring inside of it, causing an "effective weight" measurement to be given.  A 130-lb (while at rest) woman stands on the scale in the elevator.  Answer the questions below thusly:  equal to 130 lb, less than 130 lb, greater than 130 lb, 0 lb.

a.  If the elevator is moving upward at a constant velocity, what will the scale read?

b.  If the elevator is moving downward at a constant velocity, what will the scale read?

c.  If the elevator is moving upward at a constant acceleration, what will the scale read?

d.  If the elevator is moving downward at a constant acceleration, what will the scale read?

e.  If the elevator were freely falling (uh oh....), what will the scale read?

3.  Pick one idea or topic that has captured your imagination during the motion/mechanics unit.  Describe or discuss it briefly.

Newton!

Newton and his laws of motion.

Newton, Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (1687) Translated by Andrew Motte (1729)

Lex. I. Corpus omne perseverare in statu suo quiescendi vel movendi uniformiter in directum, nisi quatenus a viribus impressis cogitur statum illum mutare.


Every body perseveres in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a right line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed thereon.

Projectiles persevere in their motions, so far as they are not retarded by the resistance of the air, or impelled downwards by the force of gravity. A top, whose parts by their cohesion are perpetually drawn aside from rectilinear motions, does not cease its rotation, otherwise than as it is retarded by the air. The greater bodies of the planets and comets, meeting with less resistance in more free spaces, preserve their motions both progressive and circular for a much longer time.


Lex. II. Mutationem motus proportionalem esse vi motrici impressae, & fieri secundum lineam rectam qua vis illa imprimitur.


The alteration of motion is ever proportional to the motive force impressed; and is made in the direction of the right line in which that force is impressed.


If any force generates a motion, a double force will generate double the motion, a triple force triple the motion, whether that force be impressed altogether and at once, or gradually and successively. And this motion (being always directed the same way with the generating force), if the body moved before, is added to or subtracted from the former motion, according as they directly conspire with or are directly contrary to each other; or obliquely joined, when they are oblique, so as to produce a new motion compounded from the determination of both.


Lex. III. Actioni contrariam semper & aequalem esse reactionent: sive corporum duorum actiones in se mutuo semper esse aequales & in partes contrarias dirigi.


To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction; or the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal, and directed to contrary parts.


Whatever draws or presses another is as much drawn or pressed by that other. If you press a stone with your finger, the finger is also pressed by the stone. If a horse draws a stone tied to a rope, the horse (if I  may so say) will be equally drawn back towards the stone: for the distended rope, by the same endeavour to relax or unbend itself, will draw the horse as much towards the stone as it does the stone towards the horse, and will obstruct the progress of the one as much as it advances that of the other.

>

And now, in more contemporary language:

1.  Newton's First Law (inertia)

An object will keep doing what it is doing, unless there is reason for it to do otherwise.

The means, it will stay at rest OR it will keep moving at a constant velocity, unless acted on by an unbalanced force.

2.  Newton's Second Law

An unbalanced force (F) causes an object to accelerate (a).

That means, if you apply a force to an object, and that force is unbalanced (greater than any resisting force), the object will accelerate.

Symbolically:

F = m a

That's a linear relationship.

Greater F means greater a.  However, if the force is constant, but the mass in increased, the resulting acceleration will be less:

a = F / m

That's an inverse relationship.

We have a NEW unit for force.  Since force = mass x acceleration, the units are:

kg m / s^2

which we define as a newton (N).  It's about 0.22 lb.

There is a special type of force that is important to mention now - the force due purely to gravity.  It is called Weight.  Since F = m a, and a is the acceleration due to gravity (or g):

W = m g

Note that this implies that:  weight can change, depending on the value of the gravitational acceleration.  That is, being near the surface of the Earth (where g is approximately 9.8 m/s/s) will give you a particular weight value, the one you are most used to.  However, at higher altitudes, your weight will be slightly less.  And on the Moon, where g is 1/6 that of the Earth's surface, your weight will be 1/6 that of Earth.  For example, if you weight 180 pounds on Earth, you'll weight 30 pounds on the Moon!


3.  Newton's Third Law

To every action, there is opposed an equal reaction.  Forces always exist in pairs.  Examples:

You move forward by pushing backward on the Earth - the Earth pushes YOU forward.  Strange, isn't it?

A rocket engine pushes hot gases out of one end - the gases push the rocket forward.

If you fire a rifle or pistol, the firearm "kicks" back on you.

Since the two objects (m and M, let's say) experience the same force:

m A = M a

That's a little trick to convey in letters but, the larger object (M) will experience the smaller acceleration (a), while the smaller object (M) experiences the larger acceleration (A).

Conversion factor HW

Create two interesting units of speed - show how to create their conversion factors from m/s.

Test practice

Find the time for a ball to fall 7-m from rest.  If the ball had been kicked horizontally at 4 m/s, how far would it have traveled?

Heading west in a motorboat at 15 m/s, you encounter a 5 m/s current north.  At the end of 400-m, how far off course are you?  And how much time did you spend to get there?