Chapter 3

Gravity, Rotational Motion

Physics for Future Presidents

September 15, 2015

 Contact forces

!

Forces

Anything transferred by direct contact

" Weight, friction, springs, strings, etc.

Distance forces

!
!

Forces that do not require direct contact

All fundamental forces act over distance

" Gravity, electromagnetic, weak, and strong forces

" In classical physics, we talk about force field -- an
imaginary medium that transmits the force

" In quantum physics, we say the force is transmitted by
exchange of virtual particles
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Most Common Everyday Forces

Gravity (see next)

Weight

!

E.g. atmospheric pressure: weight of molecules

above Earth surface

" 15 pounds per square inch (large !)

" Water pressure: 15 psi per 30 ft of depth

Friction

!

Friction of surfaces (dry friction) and drag

"Friction depends on quality of surfaces

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The Gravity Force

The most common force in the Universe

On Earth: distance force that attracts us to the
surface

!

Points downwards towards the center of Earth

Causes all objects in free fall to move with the

same acceleration towards Earth

" Galileo

" One important caveat: this is true if there is no air
resistance or other forces

" In other words, in vacuum

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Free Fall
Universal acceleration on surface of Earth

" g = 10 m/s2 = 32 ft/s2

" Downward velocity changes by 32 ft/s every second

Distance traveled grows quadratically with time

" Elevation change = gt2/2 (if no initial vertical velocity)

Always points downward

" Towards the center of Earth, i.e. perpendicular to Earth
surface (in most places)

Free fall is independent of horizontal velocity

But depends on initial vertical velocity
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Free Fall by Numbers

Relations between elevation, speed, time

!

Jump/fall with no initial velocity

" Elevation change = H = gt2/2 (going downward)

" Speed change = v = gt (pointing down)

Time to fall:

!
!

t=

Speed at impact
v =

2H
g

2gH

!
" E.g. H=1 m = 3 ft t = 0.4 s, v = 4 m/s = 10 mph

" H = 5 m = 15 ft t = 1 s, v = 10 m/s = 23 mph

" H = 100 m = t = 4.4 s, v = 45 m/s = 100 mph
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Parabolic Trajectories
Objects thrown near surface of Earth follow
parabolic trajectories

!

How far and how high depend on initial velocity

and angle

" Larger velocity farther and higher

" Steeper angle higher

!

If start and end of trajectory are on same elevations

" Takes same time to go up as to come down

" Farthest distance for angle of 45 degrees

!

All true as long as air resistance is negligible

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Drag Force
Real objects on Earth experience drag due to air
resistance

Drag resists motion opposes velocity

Drag grows with speed

!
!
!

Linear at small speeds

Quadratic at larger speeds

Depends on shape of object

" Bicycle helmets, some cars (e.g. Toyota Prius) are designed
to minimize drag

!

May become so large as to exactly cancel downward

gravity force terminal velocity

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Terminal Speeds
Object
Shotput
Skydiver
Baseball
Basketball
Ping-pong ball
Raindrop
Parachutist

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v
145
60
42
20
9
7
5

v
330
140
95
45
20
16
11

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Satellites
Parabolic trajectories: faster farther

Eventually, may go as far as the edge of the
Earth

!

That is, once curvature of the trajectory is smaller

than curvature of the Earth the object doesnt
fall on the ground

" Satellites

How fast does a satellite have to move ?

!

First space velocity

v > v1 =
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gREarth = 8 km/s
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Rocket and Satellite Motion

Based on 4 fundamental laws of physics

!
!
!
!

Momentum conservation

Angular momentum conservation

Energy conservation

Universal law of gravity

Johannes Kepler
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Isaac Newton

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
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Rocket Propulsion
Momentum conservation, or 3rd Newtons
Law:

!

Origin of thrust: action vs reaction

" Thrust = mass flow velocity of ejected gas

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
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microgravity.grc.nasa.gov

Werner von Braun

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Orbital Motion & Angular Momentum

Momentum = mass * speed (=mv)

!
!
!

Describes linear motion

Vector: points in direction of motion

Conserved (constant) if no external forces

" Newtons 2nd law: F = ma = dp/dt

Angular momentum = mass * speed * lever (=mvr)

= moment of inertia * angular speed (=I)

!
!
!

Describes circular motion

(Pseudo) Vector: corkscrew law

Conserved (constant) if no external torques

"Newtons 2nd law: = I = dL/dt

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Satellites
Orbit around center of Earth

Higher launch velocity higher elevation

But higher elevation longer time

!
!

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites: period = 85 min

Period = 24 h H 40,000 km 23,000 miles

" Geostationary satellites

" Geostationary satellites must orbit in equatorial plane
and from west to east

Launch point matters

" Compare orbit speed with Earth rotation (0.5 km/s)
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Weight and Weightlessness

Weight force with which objects push on
supports

" E.g. force with which we push on scales

Force generated by gravity

" Weight = mg = mass*acceleration of free fall

" Measure in Newtons (N) or Pounds (lbs)

Free fall: not pushing on anything

" No weight weightlessness

" Astronauts appear weightless because they are in free fall

Equivalence of gravity and acceleration (Einstein)

" Fictitious forces (e.g. Centrifugal) and artificial gravity
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Universal Gravity
Newton: gravity is attractive force between any
massive objects

" Proportional to product of masses

" Decreases with square of distance between centers

!
!
!

m1 m2
F = GN
r2

" GN (Newton constant) = 71011 N*m2/kg2

" Ex: 2 70-kg people staying 1 ft (30 cm) apart experience

mutual gravitational attraction of 4106 N = 8107 lbs

Gravity is extremely feeble

!

Only strong near very massive objects

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Universal Gravity

Einstein: theory of general

relativity

Gravity caused by distortion of
spacetime around massive
objects

!

Curved space curved

trajectories

Massless objects gravitate too

!

Gravity depends on total energy,

including mass energy

Photons gravitate deflected by
massive objects

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Escape Velocity
Satellites: larger velocity larger radius

Escape velocity (2nd space velocity): infinite radius

" For Earth

v!escape = v2 =

2gR = 11 km/s

" Satellite launched with speed of 11 km/s will leave Earth

forever

Escape velocity grows with mass of the planet/star

!

When escape velocity exceeds speed of light

nothing can escape

" Black holes

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Black Holes

Computer-generated image of Large Magellanic Cloud (2MASS survey) with black

hole simulation superimposed
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