Anda di halaman 1dari 3

Page 1

Rethinking the classical mechanics (orbital mechanics), Part #5 of 10


(enormous moment of Inertia)

The empirical fact is that the Earth orbits the sun at the elliptical orbit. Moreover, the Earth itself spins. All bodies on the Earth surface and components
(materials, matters), which the Earth consists of, are always rotating circularly if they do not move (their trajectory may become non-circular in this case). Let’s
consider yourself (human being) and some mass (a stone, piece of mental etc.). You stand on the Earth surface and throw a mass perpendicularly to the Earth spin
direction (see picture below). Notice that the moment of inertia of you and the mass (as point masses) is a physical property which is defined by the formula 𝐼 =
𝑚 ∗ 𝑟 2 ; therefore, this physical property cannot be canceled in any calculations if you or any mass rotates circularly!

Let’s answer the following question: “Would the force, which you exert on the mass (stone etc.) to throw it perpendicularly to the plane of the Earth spin, be the
same as if you threw the mass while the Earth, you, and the mass do not rotate at all?” Notice that you and the mass rotate at the Earth angular velocity;
hence, you and the mass have the angular momentum too. Please remember that Inertia opposes a change of a mass velocity.
Page 2

The moment of Inertia for the circular motion is defined by the formula 𝐼 = 𝑚 ∗ 𝑟 2 (for point mass), that is, the moment of Inertia depends on a mass and radius
of rotation. The latter means that even small masses on the Earth surface have the large moment of Inertia because the Earth radius is about 6371000 meters!
Therefore, it should be difficult to move any masses especially those that are closer to the Earth equator (bigger radius of spin) if their moments of Inertia oppose
any forces exerted on them. However, it seems that there is no any difference in moving masses everywhere on the Earth surface! Now, let’s consider the moment
of Inertia of International Space Station (ISS) and bodies (masses) inside ISS.
If International Space Station (ISS) orbited the Earth circularly (its real elliptical orbit is close to the circular one), then astronauts and other objects inside would
have the larger moments of Inertia than their moments on the Earth surface because the ISS orbit is about 400,000 meters more than the Earth radius; moreover,
the angular speed of ISS as well as the astronauts is much higher (about 15 times) than that of the spinning Earth. In according to Newton’s third law, if an
astronaut exerts a force on some mass to push it inside ISS, then such a mass exerts the same and opposite force on this astronaut. Hence, what force the
astronaut must apply to overcome the mass (1kg) moment of Inertia equal to 𝒎 ∗ 𝒓𝟐 in according to the classical mechanics? First, calculate the moment of
Inertia of the mass (1 kg) inside ISS:

𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝑰𝑺𝑺 = 𝟔𝟑𝟕𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒎 + 𝟒𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒎 = 𝟔𝟕𝟕𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒎

𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒂 = 𝑰 = 𝒎(𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝑰𝑺𝑺) ∗ 𝒓𝟐𝒄𝒊𝒓𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒎 = 𝟏 𝒌𝒈 ∗ 𝟔𝟕𝟕𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟐 𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝟐 = 𝟒. 𝟓𝟖𝟒𝟔𝟒𝟒𝟏𝟏𝟑 𝒌𝒈 ∗ 𝒎𝟐

Second, offer you to calculate a force that is needed to overcome such a large moment of Inertia. Do you think the astronauts in ISS have such a power?!

Note: The moment of Inertia is in the elliptical motions too; however, it is not considered in this work. On the next page, the discussion with an aerospace engineer
is mentioned.
Page 3

During the discussion, the following observations were analyzed. Astronauts can push any bodies (masses), including each other, at any direction inside
International Space Station (ISS) as easy as they would push them on the Earth surface in cases in which there is only the air resistance, but friction is negligible. As
far as it was understood, the aerospace engineering specialist explained that it is easy to move a body (mass) with the moment of inertia (𝐼 = 𝑚 ∗ 𝑟 2) where 𝑟
(radius) is a very large (orbital radius) because a force applied to a body (mass) inside ISS is a torque 𝑇 (or moment). Please notice the formulas for an elliptical orbit
𝑇 𝑟∗𝐹 𝐹 𝑟∗𝐹 𝐹 𝑚∗𝑎
are slightly different. Hence, 𝑇 = 𝑟 ∗ 𝐹 and the angular acceleration is 𝐴 = 𝐼 = (𝑚∗𝑟 2 ) = 𝑚∗𝑟 Next, the translation acceleration 𝑎 = 𝑟 ∗ 𝐴 = 𝑚∗𝑟 = 𝑚 = 𝑚 = 𝑎.
As a result, the distance (rotation radius) to the Earth center has no effect to this situation. Then, some questions were asked which have not been answered yet.
Truly, the author doubts that they will be answered. Here is the author’s comment with the questions about the specialist's explanation:

"I think we should separate the physical properties from the mathematical formulas which describe these properties. So if some body circularly orbits the Earth,
then it has the moment of inertia (physical property) defined by the formula 𝐼 = 𝑚 ∗ 𝑟 2. One may make any mathematical manipulations with this formula and
cancel out the variable 𝑟 symbolizing a radius, but it does not cancel the body (mass) moment of inertia (as physical property) if the body circularly orbits the Earth
at the distance equal to 𝑟 !
Please imagine that you are in a spaceship and push some mass, say, a ball perpendicular to the plane of the circular rotation of the spaceship, including the ball
and you. Can you cancel the radius of your and ball circular rotation around the Earth in the real world? I think you cannot. However, you can cancel out the
variable 𝑟 symbolizing the radius in your calculations. So if the body (mass) moment of inertia is the physical property, may it be cancelled if the body orbits the
Earth circularly? I think the moment as well as the rotation radius cannot be cancelled in the real world. We can cancel out some mathematical elements (variables
etc.) expressing some physical properties (processes), but we cannot cancel these physical properties in the real world.
Next, let me understand what you wrote about torques. For example, you and a ball (mass) are in a spaceship circularly orbiting the Earth at some radius. You
push the ball perpendicularly to the plane of the ball circular motion (assume air resistance is negligible). As you understand, the ball has the moment of inertia
when you push it despite your cancelling out the radius in your calculations. Logically assume that the ball moment of inertia should oppose to a force that you
exert on the ball to push it perpendicular to the plane of the ball rotation. In according to Newton's third law, the ball exerts a force equal and opposite to your
force. Could you clarify what force (in Newtons) you should apply to overcome the ball inertia (𝐼 = 𝑚 ∗ 𝑟 2) if the ball mass is 1 kilogram and its circular rotation
radius is 6,771,000 meters? I think you agree that the ball moment of inertia (as physical property) does not disappear when you cancel out the radius in your
calculations. As I can see, the conception of the lever (torque) is not applicable to this situation because the ball is a point mass and you exert a force directly on
the ball.“

Conclusion: Based on the discussion, we should be very careful when we make mathematical operations with the physical formulas. In other words, we should
remember that the physical properties (Inertia etc.) must be separated from any mathematical manipulations.

Anda mungkin juga menyukai