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CircularMotionandSatelliteMotionLesson4PlanetaryandSatelliteMotion

MathematicsofSatelliteMotion
Kepler'sThreeLaws
CircularMotionPrinciplesforSatellites
MathematicsofSatelliteMotion
WeightlessnessinOrbit
EnergyRelationshipsforSatellites

ThemotionofobjectsisgovernedbyNewton'slaws.Thesamesimplelawsthatgovernthemotionof
objectsonearthalsoextendtothe heavens
togovernthemotionofplanets,moons,andother
satellites.Themathematicsthatdescribesasatellite'smotionisthesamemathematicspresentedfor
circularmotioninLesson1.InthispartofLesson4,wewillbeconcernedwiththevarietyof
mathematicalequationsthatdescribethemotionofsatellites.

OrbitalSpeedEquation
ConsiderasatellitewithmassMsatorbitingacentralbodywithamassofmassMCentral.Thecentralbody
couldbeaplanet,thesunorsomeotherlargemasscapableofcausingsufficientaccelerationonaless
massivenearbyobject.Ifthesatellitemovesincircularmotion,thenthenetcentripetalforceacting
uponthisorbitingsatelliteisgivenbytherelationship
Fnet=(Msatv2 )/R
Thisnetcentripetalforceistheresultofthegravitationalforcethatattractsthesatellitetowardsthe
centralbodyandcanberepresentedas
Fgrav=(GMsat MCentral )/R2
SinceFgrav=Fnet,theaboveexpressionsforcentripetalforceandgravitationalforcecanbesetequalto
eachother.Thus,
(Msatv2)/R=(GMsat MCentral )/R2
Observethatthemassofthesatelliteispresentonbothsidesoftheequationthusitcanbecanceled
bydividingthroughbyMsat.ThenbothsidesoftheequationcanbemultipliedbyR,leavingthe
followingequation.
v2=(GMCentral )/R
Takingthesquarerootofeachside,leavesthefollowingequationforthevelocityofasatellitemoving
aboutacentralbodyincircularmotion

whereGis6.673x1011Nm2/kg2,Mcentralisthemassofthecentralbodyaboutwhichthesatellite
orbits,andRistheradiusoforbitforthesatellite.

TheAccelerationEquation
Similarreasoningcanbeusedtodetermineanequationfortheaccelerationofoursatellitethatis
expressedintermsofmassesandradiusoforbit.Theaccelerationvalueofasatelliteisequaltothe
accelerationofgravityofthesatelliteatwhateverlocationthatitisorbiting.InLesson3,theequation
fortheaccelerationofgravitywasgivenas
g=(GMcentral)/R2
Thus,theaccelerationofasatelliteincircularmotionaboutsomecentralbodyisgivenbythefollowing
equation

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whereGis6.673x1011Nm2/kg2,Mcentralisthemassofthecentralbodyaboutwhichthesatellite
orbits,andRistheaverageradiusoforbitforthesatellite.

OrbitalPeriodEquation
ThefinalequationthatisusefulindescribingthemotionofsatellitesisNewton'sformofKepler'sthird
law.Sincethelogicbehindthedevelopmentoftheequationhasbeenpresentedelsewhere,onlythe
equationwillbepresentedhere.Theperiodofasatellite(T)andthemeandistancefromthecentral
body(R)arerelatedbythefollowingequation:

whereTistheperiodofthesatellite,Ristheaverageradiusoforbitforthesatellite(distancefrom
centerofcentralplanet),andGis6.673x1011Nm2/kg2.

Thereisanimportantconceptevidentinallthreeoftheseequationstheperiod,speedandthe
accelerationofanorbitingsatellitearenotdependentuponthemassofthesatellite.

NoneofthesethreeequationshasthevariableMsatelliteinthem.Theperiod,speedandaccelerationof
asatelliteareonlydependentupontheradiusoforbitandthemassofthecentralbodythatthesatellite
isorbiting.Justasinthecaseofthemotionofprojectilesonearth,themassoftheprojectilehasno
effectupontheaccelerationtowardstheearthandthespeedatanyinstant.Whenairresistanceis
negligibleandonlygravityispresent,themassofthemovingobjectbecomesanonfactor.Suchisthe
caseoforbitingsatellites.


ExampleProblems
Toillustratetheusefulnessoftheaboveequations,considerthefollowingpracticeproblems.
PracticeProblem#1
Asatellitewishestoorbittheearthataheightof100km(approximately60miles)
abovethesurfaceoftheearth.Determinethespeed,accelerationandorbitalperiodof
thesatellite.(Given:Mearth=5.98x1024kg,Rearth=6.37x106m)
Likemostproblemsinphysics,thisproblembeginsbyidentifyingknownandunknowninformationand
selectingtheappropriateequationcapableofsolvingfortheunknown.Forthisproblem,theknowns
andunknownsarelistedbelow.
Given/Known: Unknown:
R=Rearth+height=6.47x106m v=???
Mearth=5.98x1024kg a=???
G=6.673x1011Nm2/kg2 T=???
Notethattheradiusofasatellite'sorbitcanbefoundfromthe
knowledgeoftheearth'sradiusandtheheightofthesatellite
abovetheearth.Asshowninthediagramattheright,theradiusof
orbitforasatelliteisequaltothesumoftheearth'sradiusandthe
heightabovetheearth.Thesetwoquantitiescanbeaddedtoyield
theorbitalradius.Inthisproblem,the100kmmustfirstbe
convertedto100000mbeforebeingaddedtotheradiusofthe
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earth.Theequationsneededtodeterminetheunknownarelistedabove.Wewillbeginbydetermining
theorbitalspeedofthesatelliteusingthefollowingequation:
v=SQRT[(GMCentral )/R]
Thesubstitutionandsolutionareasfollows:
v=SQRT[(6.673x1011Nm2/kg2)(5.98x1024kg)/(6.47x106m)]
v=7.85x103m/s
Theaccelerationcanbefoundfromeitheroneofthefollowingequations:
(1)a=(GMcentral)/R2 (2)a=v2/R
Equation(1)wasderivedabove.Equation(2)isageneralequationforcircularmotion.Eitherequation
canbeusedtocalculatetheacceleration.Theuseofequation(1)willbedemonstratedhere.
a=(GMcentral)/R2
11
a=(6.673x10 Nm /kg2)(5.98x1024kg)/(6.47x106m)2
2

a=9.53m/s2
Observethatthisaccelerationisslightlylessthanthe9.8m/s2valueexpectedonearth'ssurface.As
discussedinLesson3,theincreaseddistancefromthecenteroftheearthlowersthevalueofg.
Finally,theperiodcanbecalculatedusingthefollowingequation:

Theequationcanberearrangedtothefollowingform
T=SQRT[(4pi2R3)/(G*Mcentral)]
Thesubstitutionandsolutionareasfollows:
T=SQRT[(4(3.1415)2(6.47x106m)3)/(6.673x1011Nm2/kg2)(5.98x1024kg)]
T=5176s=1.44hrs


PracticeProblem#2
Theperiodofthemoonisapproximately27.2days(2.35x106s).Determinetheradius
ofthemoon'sorbitandtheorbitalspeedofthemoon.(Given:Mearth=5.98x1024kg,
Rearth=6.37x106m)
LikePracticeProblem#2,thisproblembeginsbyidentifyingknownandunknownvalues.Theseare
shownbelow.
Given/Known:
T=2.35x106s Unknown:
R=???
Mearth=5.98x1024kg
v=???
G=6.673x1011Nm2/kg2
Theradiusoforbitcanbecalculatedusingthefollowingequation:

Theequationcanberearrangedtothefollowingform
R3=[(T2GMcentral)/(4pi2)]
Thesubstitutionandsolutionareasfollows:
R3=[((2.35x106s)2(6.673x1011Nm2/kg2)(5.98x1024kg))/(4(3.1415)2)]
R3=5.58x1025m3
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Bytakingthecuberootof5.58x1025m3,theradiuscanbedeterminedasfollows:
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R=3.82x108m

Theorbitalspeedofthesatellitecanbecomputedfromeitherofthefollowingequations:
(1)v=SQRT[(GMCentral )/R] (2)v=(2piR)/T
Equation(1)wasderivedabove.Equation(2)isageneralequationforcircularmotion.Eitherequation
canbeusedtocalculatetheorbitalspeedtheuseofequation(1)willbedemonstratedhere.The
substitutionofvaluesintothisequationandsolutionareasfollows:
v=SQRT[(6.673x1011Nm2/kg2)*(5.98x1024kg)/(3.82x108m)]
v=1.02x103m/s


PracticeProblem#3
Ageosynchronoussatelliteisasatellitethatorbitstheearthwithanorbitalperiodof24
hours,thusmatchingtheperiodoftheearth'srotationalmotion.Aspecialclassof
geosynchronoussatellitesisageostationarysatellite.Ageostationarysatelliteorbitsthe
earthin24hoursalonganorbitalpaththatisparalleltoanimaginaryplanedrawn
throughtheEarth'sequator.Suchasatelliteappearspermanentlyfixedabovethesame
locationontheEarth.Ifageostationarysatellitewishestoorbittheearthin24hours
(86400s),thenhowhighabovetheearth'ssurfacemustitbelocated?(Given:Mearth=
5.98x1024kg,Rearth=6.37x106m)
Justasinthepreviousproblem,thesolutionbeginsbytheidentificationoftheknownandunknown
values.Thisisshownbelow.
Given/Known:
T=86400s
Mearth=5.98x1024kg Unknown:
h=???
Rearth=6.37x106m
G=6.673x1011Nm2/kg2
Theunknowninthisproblemistheheight(h)ofthesatelliteabove
thesurfaceoftheearth.Yetthereisnoequationwiththevariableh.
Thesolutiontheninvolvesfirstfindingtheradiusoforbitandusing
thisRvalueandtheRoftheearthtofindtheheightofthesatellite
abovetheearth.Asshowninthediagramattheright,theradiusof
orbitforasatelliteisequaltothesumoftheearth'sradiusandthe
heightabovetheearth.Theradiusoforbitcanbefoundusingthe
followingequation:

Theequationcanberearrangedtothefollowingform
R3=[(T2*G*Mcentral)/(4*pi2)]
Thesubstitutionandsolutionareasfollows:
R3=[((86400s)2(6.673x1011Nm2/kg2)(5.98x1024kg))/(4(3.1415)2)]
R3=7.54x1022m3
Bytakingthecuberootof7.54x1022m3,theradiuscanbedeterminedtobe
R=4.23x107m
Theradiusoforbitindicatesthedistancethatthesatelliteisfromthecenteroftheearth.Nowthatthe
radiusoforbithasbeenfound,theheightabovetheearthcanbecalculated.Sincetheearth'ssurfaceis
6.37x106mfromitscenter(that'stheradiusoftheearth),thesatellitemustbeaheightof
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4.23x107m6.37x106m=3.59x107m
abovethesurfaceoftheearth.Sotheheightofthesatelliteis3.59x107m.

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