Stars

 &  Galaxies
AST  104  -­‐  Fall  2010

Lecture 05 - Galileo & Newton

 Question 3
1) why planets moved in the sky.
Epicycles were 2) why Earth was at the center.
used in Ptolemy s 3) why retrograde motion occurred.
model to explain 4) why Earth wobbled on its axis.
5) why inner planets were always
seen near the Sun.
 Question 3
1) why planets moved in the sky.
Epicycles were 2) why Earth was at the center.
used in Ptolemy s 3) why retrograde motion occurred.
model to explain 4) why Earth wobbled on its axis.
5) why inner planets were always
seen near the Sun.
.

Planets were assumed to move

uniformly on an epicycle, as it
moved uniformly around Earth.
 Question 6
1) proving planets move around the Sun in
Copernicus elliptical orbits.
important 2) the theory of gravity.
contribution to 3) proposing a simpler model for the
Astronomy motions of planets in the solar system.
was 4) discovering the Sun was not at the
center of the Milky Way.
5) discovering the four moons of Jupiter.
 Question 6
1) proving planets move around the Sun in
Copernicus elliptical orbits.
important 2) the theory of gravity.
contribution to 3) proposing a simpler model for the
Astronomy motions of planets in the solar system.
was 4) discovering the Sun was not at the
center of the Milky Way.
5) discovering the four moons of Jupiter.

His heliocentric model easily

explained retrograde motion because
planets orbited the Sun at different
speeds.
 Question 7
Copernicus 1) he assumed planets moved in ellipses.
heliocentric 2) he didn t know about Uranus & Neptune.
model was 3) he couldn t account for gravity.
flawed 4) he couldn t explain retrograde motion.
because 5) he assumed planets moved in circles.
 Question 7
Copernicus 1) he assumed planets moved in ellipses.
heliocentric 2) he didn t know about Uranus & Neptune.
model was 3) he couldn t account for gravity.
flawed 4) he couldn t explain retrograde motion.
because 5) he assumed planets moved in circles.

Copernicus model still needed

small epicycles to account for
observed changes in planetary
speeds.
Summary
1. Galileo and the Telescope

2. Newton’s Laws of Motion

3. Motion in a circle

4. The Law of Gravity

5. Newton’s Laws & Kepler’s Laws

 Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)
• Italian physicist, mathematician
and astronomer.

• Use the telescope to observe

the night sky.

• Promoted the heliocentric

model as a result of his
observations.

“Galileo, perhaps more than any other single person,

was responsible for the birth of modern science.”
Stephen Hawking
Mountains and Craters
on the Moon

Geological features on the

Moon looked similar to
those found on the Earth
Sunspots
More stars are visible
with telescopes
 Jupiter’s Moons

Proof that not all objects in the Universe orbit the Earth.
The Phases of Venus:
The Geocentric Model

Earth
Venus Sun

Venus as seen
from Earth
The Phases of Venus:
The Heliocentric Model

Earth
Sun Venus

Venus as
seen from
Earth
Galileo’s Mass Experiments
Hammer Feather
 Isaac Newton (1643 - 1727)
• English physicist, mathematician and
astronomer.

• Described three laws of motions

and the law of universal gravitation.

• Demonstrated that the same

natural laws which operate on the
Earth also govern the motion of the
planets.
Newton’s First Law (Law of Inertia)
“Unless a net, outside force, acts upon an object,
the object will
i) maintain a constant speed in a straight line (if
initially moving), or
ii) remain at rest (if initially at rest).”
Mass and Weight
• Mass is a property of an object and is a measure of its
resistance to a force (inertia).
• Mass is independent of location.
• Weight is the downward force experienced by a mass
due to gravity (e.g. the gravitational field of the Earth).

1 kg 2.2 lbs
1 kg 0.37 lbs
 Newton’s Second Law
• Newton’s Second Law tells us how much force is
necessary to produce a certain acceleration of an
object.
• Acceleration is a measure of a change in the speed or
direction of an object.
• “A net external force applied to an object causes it
to accelerate at a rate that is inversely proportional
to its mass.”
F
a= or F = ma
m
When the net force is zero, there is no acceleration.
Newton’s Third Law

• “When an object X exerts a force on object Y, object

Y exerts an equal and opposite force back on X.

• Also stated as “For every action there is an equal and

opposite reaction.”
Motion in a Circle
• Motion of an object in a circle is an example of
acceleration causing a change in direction.

• Centripetal, or “center-seeking” force is the force

directed to the center of the curve along which an
object is moving.
Centripetal
Force

Direction
of motion
Q: If the string breaks while an object spins in a circle,
which way does the object go?
C
A

The correct
answer is:
C?
 The Law of Universal Gravitation
• The Law of Universal Gravitation states that
between every two objects there is an attractive
force.

• This magnitude (strength) of this force is directly

proportional to the mass of each object...

• and inversely proportional to the square of the

distance between the centers of the objects.

Gm1m2
F= 2
d
• According to the Law of Universal Gravitation, weight
is the gravitational force between an object and the
planetary/stellar body where the object is located.

• According to Newton, gravity not only makes objects

fall to the Earth, but keeps the Moon in orbit around
the Earth and the planets in orbit around the Sun.
 Testing the Law of Universal Gravitation

• It can be shown that force is proportional to mass

by demonstrating that weight is proportional to
mass here on Earth.
• To test the dependence of force on distance,
Newton compared the accelerations of objects near
the Earth’s surface to the Moon’s acceleration in
orbit around the Earth.
Newton’s Laws & Kepler’s Laws

Earth D
Sun
A

B C

Newton’s version of 4π 2
p =
2
a 3

Kepler’s Third Law: G ( M1 + M 2 )

Since the mass of the Sun is so much greater
than the planets, we can simplify the equation:

4π 2
p ≈2
a 3

GM Sun
We can use observations of planetary motion
and the above calculation to measure the mass
of the Sun.
 pEarth = 1 year = 3.156 × 10 seconds
7

aEarth = 1 AU = 1.496 × 10 meters

11

−11 −1 −2
G = 6.67 × 10 3
m kg s

4π a 2 3
M Sun ≈ Earth
2
≈ 1.99 × 10 kg
30

G p Earth
Summary
1. Galileo and the Telescope

2. Newton’s Laws of Motion

3. Motion in a circle

4. The Law of Gravity

5. Newton’s Laws & Kepler’s Laws