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CONCEPTUAL PHYSICS: Hewitt/Baird

Tech Lab

Orbital Mechanics Simulation

Worlds of Wonder
Purpose
Touseasimulationtostudytheorbitalmechanicsofasimplifiedsolarsystem

Apparatus

computer PhETsimulation:MySolarSystem(availableathttp://phet.colorado.edu)

Discussion
Labactivitiesinvolvingstarsandplanetsaredifficulttoconductinsideaclassroomorlaboratory. Sincewecannotcreatestarsandplanetstoexperimentwithintheclassroom,wewilluseacomputer simulationthatusesthelawsofgravitytoshowthebehavioroflargeobjectsatgreatdistancesfrom oneanother.

Procedure

SETUP Step1:Startthecomputerandletitcompleteitsstartupprocess. Step2:OpenthePhETsimulation,MySolarSystem.Ifyourenotsurehowtodothis,askyour instructorforassistance. Step3:Whenthesimulationopens,thescreenshouldresemblethefigurebelow.

Figure 1. My Solar System

PARTA:NEWTONSCANNON IsaacNewtonexplainedthatuniversalgravitationaccountedforboththefallofanappleandthe orbitoftheMoon.Atthetime,thiswashardforpeopletounderstand.Newtonusedathought experimenttohowthesameforcecouldexplainfreefallandorbitalmotion.Inthisactivity,youwill simulateNewtonsCannon.

Step1:Inthecontrolpanelontherightsideofthescreen,thecheckboxesforSystemCenteredand ShowTracksshouldbechecked.Settheaccurate/fastslidertothemidpoint.SettheInitialSettings forBody1(yellowSun)andBody2(pinkplanet)asfollows. a.Body 1: mass = 200, position x = 0, position y = 0, velocity x = 0, velocity y = 0. b.Body 2: mass = 1, position x = 0, position y = 100, velocity x = 0, velocity y = 0. Step2:ClicktheonscreenStartbuttonandrecordyourobservation. Step3:ClicktheonscreenResetbuttontostopthesimulationandrestoretheinitialpositionand velocitysettings. Step4:ChangetheinitialVelocityxofBody2(thepinkplanet)to40.ClicktheonscreenStart buttonandrecordyourobservationofwhathappens.Howisitdifferentfromyourprevious observation? Step5:ClicktheonscreenResetbuttontostopthesimulationandrestoretheinitialpositionand velocitysettings.ChangetheinitialVelocityxofthepinkplanetto80.ClicktheonscreenStart buttonandrecordyourobservation. Step6:ClicktheonscreenResetbutton.ChangetheinitialVelocityxofthepinkplanetto160.Click theonscreenStartbuttonandrecordyourobservationofwhathappens.Howisitdifferentfrom yourpreviousobservation? Step7:ClicktheonscreenResetbutton.Throughtrialanderror,determinetheminimuminitial VelocityxthatwillallowthepinkplanettoorbittheyellowSun.Fromyourpreviousinvestigations, youknowaspeedof40istoosmallandaninitialspeedof80ismorethanenough.Soyourresultwill bebetween40and80.DontworryiftheanimationshowstheplanetmovingthroughtheSun.What istheminimuminitialVelocityxthatwillallowthepinkplanettoorbittheyellowSunatleastten timeswithoutcrashing? Step8:ClicktheonscreenResetbutton.Onthecontrolpanel,clicktheShowGridcheckbox. Throughtrialanderror,determinethecorrectinitialVelocityxthatwillallowthepinkplanetto orbittheyellowSuninacircularorbit.Iftheinitialspeedistoohighortoolow,theorbitwillbe elliptical.Whatspeedisjustrighttoallowacircularorbit?
More curriculum can be found in Pearson Addison Wesleys Conceptual Physics Laboratory Manual: Activities Experiments Demonstrations Tech Labs by Paul G. Hewitt and Dean Baird. ISBN: 0321732480

PARTB:HARMONYOFTHEWORLDS Thereisamathematicalrelationshipbetweentheorbitalradiusandorbitalspeedofplanetscircling theSun.GermanmathematicianJohannesKeplerdiscoveredthisrelationship.Hestartedwith volumesofastronomicaldata,workedthroughhundredsofpagesofcalculations,andspent approximately30yearspursuingthediscovery.Inthisactivity,wellusethesimulationtogenerate datathatwillallowustomakethediscoveryinmuchlesstime. Step1:FindcircularorbitsforplanetsatvariousdistancesfromtheSun.Startbysettingthe Positionyofthepinkplanetatadistanceof50.Thissetstheorbitalradiusto50. Step2:Onthecontrolpanel,clicktoactivatetheTapeMeasure. Step3:Clickanddragthetapemeasureboxicon untilitscrosshairs(+)areonthepinkplanet.Now clickanddragtheotherendofthetapemeasure verticallydownward,acrosstheSun,untilit measuresadistanceof100.Sinceyousetthe orbitalradiusto50,theorbitaldiameteris100.So thetapemeasurerepresentsthediameterofthe orbit.
tape measure box

tape measure value

tape measure end

Figure 2

Step4:SettheVelocityxofthepinkplanetto150.ClicktheonscreenStartbuttonandobservethe orbit.Sincethetraceofthepinkplanetdoesntpassthroughthefarendofthetapemeasure,the orbitisnotcircular. Step5:ClicktheonscreenResetbutton.TryadifferentVelocityxforthepinkplanet.Throughtrial anderror,keeptryinguntilyoufindthespeedthatresultsinacircularorbit.Thetraceofthepink planetwillpassthroughthefarendofthetapemeasurewhentheorbitiscircular.Recordthe Velocityxonthedatatable. a. b. c. Figure 3 a. and b. Non-circular elliptical orbits c. Circular orbit Step6:Findcircularorbitswhentheorbitalradiusis100,150,and200tocompletethedatatable.

DataTable
Orbital Radius R (Position y) 50 100 150 200
More curriculum can be found in Pearson Addison Wesleys Conceptual Physics Laboratory Manual: Activities Experiments Demonstrations Tech Labs by Paul G. Hewitt and Dean Baird. ISBN: 0321732480

Orbital Speed v (Velocity x)

SummingUp
PARTA:NEWTONSCANNON 1. AcannonballdroppedfromacliffwillfallstraightdownandhitthesurfaceoftheEarth.How couldthecannonballbemadetoorbittheEarth,instead? 2. Basedonyourexperiencewiththesimulation,whichdoyouthinkismorecommon:circular orbitsornoncircularellipticalorbits?Defendyouranswer. PARTB:HARMONYOFTHEWORLDS 3. Usethefollowingmethodtodeterminetherelationshipbetweentheorbitalradiusofaplanet andtheorbitalspeedofitscircularorbit.Forthisactivity,welllimitourinvestigationtothree possiblerelationships.Theyareasfollows: Orbitalradiusisinverselyproportionaltoorbitalspeed:R~1/v. Orbitalradiusisinverselyproportionaltothesquareoforbitalspeed:R~1/v2. Orbitalradiusisinverselyproportionaltothesquarerootoforbitalspeed:R~1/v. a. Toseethepatterninthedata,weneedtosimplifyandprocessourdata.Firstrewritethe orbitaldataonthetablebelow. R 50 100 150 200 b. DivideeachvalueintheOrbitalRadiuscolumnbythefirstvalueintheOrbitalRadius column(50).RecordtheresultsintheR*columnofthetableabove.Thatis,thevaluesinthe R*columnwillbetheresultsofthequotients50/50,100/50,150/50,and200/50. c. RepeatthisprocessusingtheOrbitalSpeeddatatodeterminevaluesofv*.Thatis,divideall valuesofOrbitalSpeedbythefirstvalueoforbitalspeed. d. Nowcompletethelastthreecolumnsbyperformingtheappropriatemathematical operationsonthevaluesinthev*column. 4. SelectthecolumnthatbestmatchestheR*column.Isit___1/v*,___1/v*2,or___1/v*? 5. Completethestatement: Orbital radius is inversely proportional to the v R* 1.00 2.00 v* 1.00 1/v* 1.00 1/v*2 1.00 1/v* 1.00

Johannes Kepler worked out the mathematics of orbits. Isaac Newton used Keplers findings to develop the Theory of Universal Gravitation!

More curriculum can be found in Pearson Addison Wesleys Conceptual Physics Laboratory Manual: Activities Experiments Demonstrations Tech Labs by Paul G. Hewitt and Dean Baird. ISBN: 0321732480