Project 1
Project 1:
1. Results for a: ht=500/ spd=0mph —too slow! Satellite crashed into Earth! Results for b: ht=500/ spd=100mph —too slow! Satellite crashed into Earth! Results for c: ht=500/ spd=25000mph —too fast! Satellite left viewing area and took off in space somewhere!
I was determined to get a 100%, so I played around with the numbers until I found that at 500 miles above the Earth, the satellite would have to be launched at 16,700mph in order to reach a perfect orbit. Below is the explanation of why:
“Although the satellite is always falling towards the earth, because of gravity, the right combination of height and speed causes the satellite to fall as much as the earth curves, so the satellite never crashes”
2. I thought I was being proactive…but I didn’t realize that question two asked me to do what I had done already. To achieve a circular orbit at 500 miles above the Earth, the satellite must be launched at 16,700mph.
3. For a satellite at a height of 22,300 miles, the speed that the satellite must be traveling to achieve a circular orbit is 6,875mph.
4. For a satellite already in perfect orbit around the Earth, what would happen if: - the satellite’s speed is reduced? it would no longer be in a circular orbit- but it might still be in orbit. If it slows down too much it will crash into Earth. - the satellite’s mass is reduced? If the mass of the satellite were reduced it would not affect the orbit.
5. The law of Gravity, Newton’s laws, and Kepler’s Laws would come into play here. The orbits of asteroids are the result of a perfect balance between the forward motion and the pull of gravity on it from the sun. The asteroid will continue moving forward, and will keep wanting to move forward, but the gravity of the larger mass- in this case, the sun, keeps pulling the asteroid toward itself and it stays in an orbit- or the Asteroid belt.
6. No..if the asteroid orbiting the Sun were moving at a constant speed, than it
1. Results for a: ht=500/ spd=0mph —too slow! Satellite crashed into Earth! Results for b: ht=500/ spd=100mph —too slow! Satellite crashed into Earth! Results for c: ht=500/ spd=25000mph —too fast! Satellite left viewing area and took off in space somewhere!
I was determined to get a 100%, so I played around with the numbers until I found that at 500 miles above the Earth, the satellite would have to be launched at 16,700mph in order to reach a perfect orbit. Below is the explanation of why:
“Although the satellite is always falling towards the earth, because of gravity, the right combination of height and speed causes the satellite to fall as much as the earth curves, so the satellite never crashes”
2. I thought I was being proactive…but I didn’t realize that question two asked me to do what I had done already. To achieve a circular orbit at 500 miles above the Earth, the satellite must be launched at 16,700mph.
3. For a satellite at a height of 22,300 miles, the speed that the satellite must be traveling to achieve a circular orbit is 6,875mph.
4. For a satellite already in perfect orbit around the Earth, what would happen if: - the satellite’s speed is reduced? it would no longer be in a circular orbit- but it might still be in orbit. If it slows down too much it will crash into Earth. - the satellite’s mass is reduced? If the mass of the satellite were reduced it would not affect the orbit.
5. The law of Gravity, Newton’s laws, and Kepler’s Laws would come into play here. The orbits of asteroids are the result of a perfect balance between the forward motion and the pull of gravity on it from the sun. The asteroid will continue moving forward, and will keep wanting to move forward, but the gravity of the larger mass- in this case, the sun, keeps pulling the asteroid toward itself and it stays in an orbit- or the Asteroid belt.
6. No..if the asteroid orbiting the Sun were moving at a constant speed, than it