R OCKETS AND S ATELLITES Key Concepts How does a rocket lift off the ground? What keeps a satellite...
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Transcript of R OCKETS AND S ATELLITES Key Concepts How does a rocket lift off the ground? What keeps a satellite...
ROCKETS AND SATELLITES
Key Concepts•How does a rocket lift off the ground?•What keeps a satellite in orbit?
Key Terms•Satellite•Centripetal force
HOW DO ROCKETS LIFT OFF?
Rockets lift off because of Newton’s third Law
They burn fuel and push exhaust gases downward at a high velocity
The gases push upward on the rocket with an equal but opposite force
This upward pushing force is called thrust
Thrust must be greater than gravity for the rocket to rise and accelerate into space
WHAT IS A SATELLITE?
Any object that orbits another object in space
Our moon is a natural satellite
Artificial satellites are launched into orbit
Used for communications, military intelligence, weather analysis and geographical surveys
The ISS (International Space Station) is an example of an artificial satellite
CIRCULAR MOTION
Artificial satellites travel around Earth in almost circular path
An object moving in a circular path is accelerating because it is constantly changing direction
If an object is accelerating, a force must be acting on it – called centripetal force
Centripetal means center seeking The Earth’s gravity is the centripetal
force for the satellite. It keeps pulling the satellite towards the Earth
SATELLITE MOTION
Q: Why don’t satellites fall to Earth like a thrown ball does?
A: They have a greater horizontal velocity than a ball thrown on Earth
EXPLANATION:
A ball thrown has horizontal force moving it forward. Gravity is a force acting to pull it to the ground. The more force you give the ball the faster it travels horizontally and the greater distance it travels before hitting the Earth
A satellite in orbit around the Earth is continuously falling towards the Earth, but because the Earth is curved and they are traveling so fast , they don’t hit but travel around it
A satellite is a falling projectile that keeps missing the ground!!
SATELLITE MOTION
A satellite does not need fuel because it continues to move ahead due to its inertia
Gravity continuously changes its direction
The speed required to keep a satellite in orbit is 7,900m/s
SATELLITE LOCATION
Mapping and observation satellites are put into low orbits of less than 1,000 km
Completes an orbit in less than 2 hours Satellites such as communications satellites
put into higher orbits (36,000 km) where they circle the Earth in 24 hours Because of this they remain over the same point on Earth –
Geosynchronous orbit
SOURCES http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110484/content.ph
p?id=62 http://www.splung.com/content/sid/2/page/satellit
es http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Centripetal_force.PNG http://www.stockcarscience.com/scienceTopics/
scsRacing_CentrifugalForce.php http://www.spacetoday.org/Satellites/
YugoWarSats.html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/
multimedia/sts114_7200.html http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/education/rocket/
rktth1.html