I checked the two sets of book problems, but we did not have time to discuss them. I also checked the Satellite Motion Worksheet (WS 12-1) and we went over the answers on the back side in class. There will be a quiz on these concepts on Tuesday. We made a model of a moon orbiting a planet and saw that each object pulls on the other and influences the motion of the other. This can generate a star wobble, a key indicator of extrasolar planets.
We continued to discuss Newton's equation for universal gravitation and calculated the mass of the Earth, the gravitational attraction between 2 students and the field strength for asteroid on the cover of the book The Little Prince. I also introduced the concept of field strength and field lines. The field lines for earth extend infinitely into space, but their spacing gets further apart, indicating that the field strength is decreasing. We calculated the gravitational field strength for the space shuttle orbiting at a height of 200 km above the earth. We also did some demo's and mini-experiments that have to do with weightlessness.
HW: Study for quiz on ws 12-1
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