Lesson Plan Lesson Title

How Gravity Affects Orbits

Grade Level State Indicator(s) Goals and Objectives Students will explore how the force of gravity affects celestial bodies to for Student Learning cause one to orbit around the other (i.e., mimicking the planets orbiting the
sun in the solar system). Main points to be covered include: 1.) Gravity is always an attractive force operating between any two masses 2.) The strength of the force depends directly on the masses of the two bodies. 3.) The strength of the force depends inversely on the distance between the two objects. 4.) Whether an object is captured into a gravitational orbit depends on the mass, radius, and velocity of the approaching object.

Diversity Teaching Method Learning Activities

Guided to open inquiry Science Introduction: Gravity is an attractive force that operates between ALL objects that have mass. The mathematical equation for the force of gravity is:

F = GMm d2
where M and m are the masses of the two objects on which the gravitational force is acting upon, d is the distance between the two objects, and G is the gravitational constant, measured to be 6.67 x 10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2 through experiments (i.e., empirically). In non-math speak, this equation means that ALL pairs of objects both feel the gravitational force from other objects AND exert a gravitational force on other objects (i.e., Newtons 3rd Law: For every force, there is an equal and opposite force). So that the gravitational force acting between two objects is actually felt by both objects. The strength of this force is ONLY dependent on the masses of both objects AND the distance between them, in the sense that the force becomes STRONGER for LARGER masses, and the force becomes WEAKER with LARGER distances between the massive objects. Since gravity is an attractive force between all massive objects, both on earth and in space, it is responsible for the planets staying in orbit around the sun. If gravity were to suddenly stop acting between the sun and the planets in the solar system, the planets would just fly off in straight lines,

going which ever direction they happened to be moving at the moment the gravity stopped. However, since the gravity attracts the planets and the sun, this force constantly pulls the planets toward the sun, even when they are trying to move in a straight line (i.e., Newtons 1st Law: An object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an outside force), resulting in the orbital motion that we see. Lesson Introduction: In this lesson, pairs of students will experiment with different strengths and lengths of yarn while moving in marked paths around the room to simulate the force of gravity. They will experiments with the string to see if they can deduce the dependencies of gravity: directly dependent on mass, inversely dependent on distance. Demonstration: Example of Newtons 1st Law: in the absence of gravity (an outside force), objects in orbit will begin to travel in straight lines. Tie a donut to a string (cake donuts work best), and swing it around in a circle in the air above your head. As it swings, the string will cut into the donut, and when the string eventually cuts all the way through the donut, it is released from the force directing it in a circle (due to the string), and will fly off in some direction in a straight line. (This can also be demonstrated by simply letting go of the string with anything attached to the other end but this isnt quite as dramatic) Main Procedure: 0.) Mark an X on the floor with masking tape, and then next to the X, lines along the floor 2 feet, 4 feet, and 8 feet away, e.g. ,black marks below:
Sun Planet
START

2 ft 4 ft

START

8 ft
START

1.) Provide each student with several 8 ft. lengths (~10) of yarn.

2.) The general procedure will involve one student standing on the X (i.e., the sun) holding one end of the string. The other student(s) will begin quickly walking (or a slow jog) along the lines (depicted above) near the person on the X. As the student walking the line crosses in front of the person on the X, the force of gravity is enacted, another student standing on the red line hands the string to the walking student (alternately, rig something up so the student can grab the yarn as they walk by so they dont have to stop), and attempts to continue walking the straight line. If the force of gravity is strong enough, the students path will be altered, and they will be forced to orbit the person on the X, moving off of the straight marked path. However, for the weakest cases, the student will most likely just break the string and keep moving on their way the force of gravity wasnt strong enough to capture the student into orbit. Teacher note: Please make it clear to students that they should not be jerking on the string to try to break it, as adding this extra force to try to break the string will inevitably make it more difficult for them to easily notice the trends in the strength of the gravitational force (or string). 3.) Cases to try: a.) Variable Mass: Have a single student walk the same line over and over, but vary the mass of the sun by adding more students = more lengths of string to the X position, so that each time, as the student starts to move past on the line, they first pick up 1 string from one student, two strings from two students, three strings from three students, etc. For each case, the strength of the gravitational force should become greater because the mass is increased, so the string (now multiple strings) holding the two bodies together is harder to break too. b.) Variable distance: Have student walk each of the three lines at varying distance from the X, only this time, they have to use the same length of string each time, which means that they have to double up and then quadruple the 8ft length for the two closer lines to walk (4ft and 2 ft, respectively). In this scenario, the strength of the force between two bodies gets stronger with closer distances, even though the mass in the system is not changing. (Alternately, if you wish them to start on the closest line and see the force getting weaker with distance, then have them start with the quadrupled length of string and gradually unfold it as they move to the farther lines). Teachers Note: This doesnt accurately represent the inverse square nature of the force (e.g., the force is 4 times weaker if the distance between the objects is doubled) but will at least give the general inverse dependence of the gravitational force on distance.

Materials

Supplements

4.) Have students record their experiences, and discuss and even graph their results. 5.) To make this more open inquiry, teachers dont have to give the students the gravitational force equation or any preconceived ideas of what they should get. Intuition should tell students that more lengths of string will be stronger and more difficult to break free from than a single length, which should help them understand the cases in which the force is stronger, though you may have to point this out in the discussion. Skein of yarn (cheap Red Heart brand polyester works well) Masking tape Yard Stick Cake donut (for demo.) Escape Velocity: In order for an object to escape the gravitational pull of another object, the escaping object must be traveling at a high enough velocity, called the escape velocity, or else the attractive force will be greater and will pull the objects back together. Similarly, in order for one object to be captured into orbit in the gravitational field of a larger object (like the sun capturing a planet), the planet must pass close enough and slow enough by the sun. This is where the saying what goes up, must come down comes from. It comes back down because it wasnt going up fast enough to escape the attractive force of gravity pulling it back down. Given that it is possible to escape an objects gravitational pull, the saying should really be What goes up too slowly, must come down. You can derive the escape velocity using conservation of energy. In the scenario of an object escaping the gravitational force of another object, it must travel an infinitely large distance away, and to calculate the exact velocity or speed it needs to make its escape, by the time it reaches its final destination (at infinite distance), its final velocity will be zero. So to conserve energy, you must have the initial energy equal the final energy (both kinetic and potential), where the kinetic energy of an object is given by KE = 1/2mv2 and the gravitational potential energy is PE = -GMm/r (its negative because the gravitational force resulting the potential energy is attractive and so said to be negative). So the initial energy of an object thrown up from, say the surface of the earth would be KE + PE, which must equal the final energy: (KE + PE)initial = (KE + PE)final Since the final destination of the object will be infinite, the final potential energy will be 0 (since PE = GMm/ and 1/ = 0), and the final kinetic energy will also be zero, since by definition, the escape velocity is the minimum velocity needed to escape, so once its reaches infinite, it no longer has any velocity. This means that the final kinetic energy will also be zero, since v is zero. So, were left with:

(1/2mv2 GMm/r) = (0 + 0) Rearranging: Solve for v: 1/2mv2 = GMm/r ______ v = (2GM/r) (i.e., the square root of 2GM/r)

So, this shows that for an object of any mass traveling a distance r away from an object, it will not be captured into orbit by a planet with mass M as long as it travels fast enough. You can include a supplement about escape velocity into this lesson very easily by adding a third variable to the cases in Step 3. above: 3c.) Variable speed: Have students discover their escape speed from the system. Use the intermediate, 4 foot distance = double lengths of yarn. Have them move along the line at varying speeds (walk, fast walk, slow jog, faster jog, etc.) until they find out how fast they have to move before the string breaks. They should find that at a slow speed, they will be captured into orbit, but when they move more quickly, they can escape the gravitational pull of the sun. Even more interesting is if at some speed, they break the string, but before they do, their straight line course is altered from its original path (i.e., their trajectory follows an open curve parabola or hyperbole so they feel the force of gravity which alters their straightline path Newtons 1st Law, but given their velocity, mass, and distance from the sun, they are not fully captured into orbit).

References

Lesson by Kelly Denney and Katie Schlesinger from The Ohio State University