Simulated Gravity

Within a rotating frame of reference, there

seems to be an outward directed centrifugal
force, which can simulate gravity

Gravity is simulated by centrifugal force.

To the ladybugs, the direction up is toward the
center of the wheel.
The down direction to the ladybugs is what we call
radially outward, away from the center of the wheel.

Simulated Gravity
Consider a colony of ladybugs living inside a bicycle tire. If the
wheel falls through the air, the ladybugs will be in a weightless
condition and seem to float freely while the wheel is in the
free fall.
If the wheel is spinning, the ladybugs will feel themselves
pressed to the outer part of the tires inner surface.
At the right spinning speed, the ladybugs will experience
simulated gravity.

If the spinning wheel freely falls, the ladybugs inside will

experience a centrifugal force that feels like gravity when
the wheel spins at the appropriate rate.

Simulated Gravity
Support Force
Occupants in todays space vehicles feel weightless
because they lack a support force.
Future space travelers need not be subject to
weightlessness.
Their space habitats will probably spin, effectively
supplying a support force and simulating gravity.
a. As seen from the outside, the only force
exerted on the man is by the floor.
b. As seen from the inside, there is a
fictitious centrifugal force that simulates
gravity.
The man inside this rotating space habitat experiences
simulated gravity.

Simulated Gravity
Challenges of Simulated gravity
The comfortable 1 g we experience at Earths surface is
due to gravity.
Inside a rotating spaceship the acceleration experienced is
the centripetal/centrifugal acceleration due to rotation.
The magnitude of this acceleration is directly proportional
to the radial distance and the square of the rotational
speed.
At the axis where radial distance is zero, there is no
acceleration due to rotation.

Simulate gravity by centrifugal force

2
=

But =

2 =

2 =

Let us try to simulate g=10 m/ 2

For r= 1 km = 1000m, g=10 m/ 2

1
/
10

1
60

10
2

0.95
5

Simulate gravity by centrifugal force

2 =
In principle, we can simulate any g we like.
Note that a small wheel has to spin fast
And you will feel dizzy
Attraction le Rotor

For a large wheel, you can spin slower to get

the same value of g
If the wheel is very small, the head and the
feet will feel a different g
6

Just for completeness

But in the environment of simulated gravity
by rotation (say inside a space station), the
motion of objects will appear strange. For
example, if you drop something, it will not
drop straight down to the ground due to the
so-called Coriolis force in a rotating frame.
This goes beyond the scope of this course.

Many space exploration films

Star trek and Star Wars

Star Trek vs. Star Wars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNxhrPaaCA4
(this clip is a composite clip that combines the two famous Star
something movies)

People just
sit and
stand with
nothing
rotating.
Where do the
gravity comes
from ????
8

Many space exploration films

2001 A Space Odyssey (1968):
Realistic: Rotation gives artificial gravity
Note that the rotating drum is fairly small in some of the
clips. In order to get g=10, it has to rotate fairly quickly
( remember that

2 = )

like the Attraction le Rotor clip. You will probably vomit

inside if you rotate too quickly

An interesting question: Will you die

instantly if you are exposed to vacuum?
In movie 2001 A space Odyssey: man survives for sometime
when exposed in vacuum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e92vSua8XJY

10

An interesting question: Will you die

instantly if you are exposed to vacuum?
In Mission to Mars (2000), man dies almost immediately
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9SDpXMbVsw

11

An interesting question: Will you die

instantly if you are exposed to vacuum?
In the coming lectures on monsters, we will discuss the
problem of going from a place of high pressure to low
pressure.
More details then.
But briefly, the astronaut would have the dilemma: If he holds his
breath, the zero pressure outside will cause his lung to expand (due
to Boyles law). If he exhales completely, he will lose the last bit of
oxygen available to him.

Space is very cold: will he freeze immediately?

Not really.
There is no air. No conduction and no convection. He can only lose
heat by radiation.

Here is an interesting reading: How long can one last in

vacuum ?
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970603.html
12

Satellites
Let us recap what we have learned in
projectile motions

If you drop a stone, it will fall in a straight-line path to the

ground below. If you move your hand, the stone will land
farther away. What would happen if the curvature of the path
matched the curvature of Earth?
13

Satellites
An Earth satellite is a projectile moving fast enough to fall
continually around Earth rather than into it.

If you toss the stone horizontally with the proper speed,

its path will match the surface curvature of the asteroid.
14

Earth Satellites
1

Remember vertical motion under gravity is given by = 2 . If

2
t=1, d=5.
Also remember that horizontal motion is independent of vertical
motion

Throw a stone at any speed and one second later

it will have fallen 5 m below where it would have
been without gravity.
15

The earth is a sphere: Its surface is curved

In the curvature of Earth, the surface drops a
vertical distance of nearly 5 meters for every 8000
meters tangent to its surface.

Why do these WWI warships

have high towers?

16

 If the object has a horizontal speed of 8 km/s,

its fall will match the curvature of earth
It will keep falling forever

A satellite in circular orbit close to Earth moves

tangentially at 8 km/s. During each second, it falls 5 m
beneath each successive 8-km tangent.

17

The speeds of the bowling ball and the satellite are not
affected by the force of gravity because there is no
horizontal component of gravitational force.

The satellite is always moving at a right angle (perpendicular)

of the force of gravity.
It doesnt move in the direction of gravity, which would
increase its speed.
It doesnt move in a direction against gravity, which
would decrease its speed.
No change in speed occurs only a change in direction.
18

Moon is falling due to gravity

The moon is also attracted to earth by gravity.
It is falling down, but it has a tangential
velocity so that it will not hit earth but keep
falling.
This original drawing
by Isaac Newton
shows how a
projectile fired fast
enough would fall
around Earth and
become an Earth
satellite.

If the moon did not fall, it would follow a straight-line path.

19

 The tangential velocity of the moon is sufficient

to ensure nearly circular motion around Earth
rather than to fall into it. There is no air
resistance to damp the motion. The motion will
continue to fall indefinitely.
The tangential velocity of Earth about the Sun
keeps in falling around the sun indefinitely

Tangential velocity is the sideways velocity the

component of velocity perpendicular to the pull of gravity.

20

Let us use some math (just a tiny bit)

to calculate the orbital speed
From the circular motion formula
2

Centripetal fore provided by gravitational attraction

= /2
LHS = centripetal force keep satellite in a circular orbit with speed v
RHS = gravity attraction that provides the centripetal force

M=Mass of Earth, m=mass of satellite, R= distance of orbit

from center of earth.

At sea level, 6370 , which gives 8 / .

21

What is the period (the time needed

for the satellite to go one circle) ?
=
6370, 8 / gives
=

8
6370

radian/sec

Time to turn a circle (2 radian) is = 2

= 2

6370
8

1
60

6370
8

minutes 83 minutes 1.5 hours

Higher orbits have lower speeds, and takes longer time to

complete one circle around Earth
22

Launch speed
But it would be a very bad idea to launch a
satellite close to sea level.
There is a lot of air resistance. It will slow down
the satellite (and it will fall),
and the satellite will have rapid oxidation (i.e. it
will burn) at the speed of 8 km/s.

Satellites typically stay 150 km or higher above

sea level so that the air is thin enough.
23

Orbital Speed vs. distance from sea-level

Altitude

Speed

Period

The Moon 385000 km

391370 km 1.01 km/s

27.3 days

Billions of years

100000 km

106370 km 1.94 km/s

4 days

Billions of years

GEO

35800 km

42170 km

3.07 km/s

1 day

Millions of years

Navstar

20200 km

26570 km

3.87 km/s

12 hours

Millions of years

10000 km

16370 km

4.93 km/s

5.8 hours

Millions of years

5900 km

12270 km

5.70 km/s

3.8 hours

Millions of years

2000 km

8370 km

6.90 km/s

2.1 hours

Millenia

1000 km

7370 km

7.35 km/s

105 minutes

Millenia

Hubble

600 km

6970 km

7.56 km/s

97 minutes

Decades

ISS

380 km

6750 km

7.68 km/s

92 minutes

Years

200 km

6570 km

7.78 km/s

89 minutes

Days or weeks

100 km

6470 km

7.84 km/s

87 minutes

Minutes

0 km

6370 km

7.90 km/s

84 minutes

Seconds

Lageos

Sea Level

http://freemars.org/jeff/speed/index.htm

Lifetime

24

A satellite in orbit moves faster when it is close to the planet or other body that it orbits, and
slower when it is farther away. When a satellite falls from high altitude to lower altitude, it gains
speed, and when it rises from low altitude to higher altitude, it loses speed.
A satellite in circular orbit has a constant speed when depends only on the mass of the planet
and the distance between the satellite and the center of the planet. Here are some examples of
satellites in Earth orbit:

http://freemars.org/jeff/speed/index.htm

25

Circular orbits
Communications satellites are located in orbit 6.5 Earth
radii from Earths center, so that their period is 24 hours.
This period matches Earths daily rotation. They orbit in
the plane of Earths equator and they are always above
the same place.
The moon is farther away, and has a 27/3-day period.

26

The International Space Station (ISS) orbits at 360

kilometers above Earths surface.
Acceleration toward Earth is somewhat less
than 1 g because of altitude.
This acceleration, however, is not sensed by
the astronauts; relative to the station, they
experience zero g.

The ISS and its inhabitants circle 360 km above Earth, well
above its atmosphere, in a state of continual free fall.
27

Satellites in movies
Patriot Games (1992) - 9/11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnpwNs6Al88&feature=relate
d
Satellite taking real time night-image of commandos attacking (at
about 6:00 minutes)
Is this possible?

28

Satellites in movies
http://www.c4i.org/spysats.html
A LOOK AT . . . Spy Satellites & Hollywood
Good insight

In movies like " Enemy of the State (1998) and

Mission Impossible 2 (2000), the satellites in the
movie can be re-orbited at will to zoom in and
follow the activities of anyone at real time, like
watching a movie.
Is that possible?
29

We do not know that much about spy

satellites
But Physics laws tell us that it is
very unlikely that spy satellites
can hover around the sky to
take real time videos as shown
in some movies
The so-called UAV (unmanned
aerial vehicles) can
Predator firing on Insurgents in
Afghanistan
30

We do not know that much about spy satellites

http://www.yout
ube.com/watch?
feature=endscre
en&v=nMh8Cjnz
en8&NR=1

http://www.yout
ube.com/watch?
v=zL6OAlErkvI
31

Elliptical orbits

A simple method of constructing an ellipse

32

A satellite moves in an elliptical orbit.

a. When the satellite exceeds 8 km/s, it overshoots a circle.
b. At its maximum separation, it starts to come back toward Earth.
c. They cycle repeats itself.

33

Satellite speed varies in an elliptical orbit.

When the initial speed is more than 8 km/s, the
satellite overshoots a circular path and moves
away from Earth.
It loses speed due to the pull of gravity.
The satellite slows to a point where it no longer
recedes, and begins falling back toward Earth.
The speed los tin receding is regained as it falls back.
The satellite then rejoins its path with the same speed it had
initially.
The procedure repeats over and over, and an ellipse is
traced each cycle.
34

The parabolic paths of projectiles, such as cannonballs, are

actually segments of ellipses.
a. For relatively low speeds, the center of Earth is the far
focus.
b. For greater speeds, the near focus is Earths center.

35

Energy conserves
The sum of KE and PE for a satellite is a constant at all points
along an elliptical orbit.

36

Satellite Orbits

37

007 GoldenEye 1995

Screen shows two satellite orbits

Is there any problem with such orbits?

38

A closer look
Why is the orbit S-shaped?

39

3D to 2D
Earth is a 3D sphere. A map is a picture on a 2D surface.
A sphere cannot be represented on a plane without
distortion. Since any map is projection of a sphere's surface
onto a plane, all map projections distort.

40

(optional topic a possible area for more in dept understandings)

Illusions of a 2D world map

Alaska and Brazil look similar in size.
Brazil is actually 5 times the size of
Alaska.
Australia is 4.5 times bigger than
Alaska.
Greenland looks huge, bigger than
South America. South America is
8.5 times bigger than Greenland .
France looks to be about the same
size as Angola but Angola is
actually over twice the size.
Russia looks about twice the size of
Africa. Africa is twice the size of
Russia.

41

Orbits of satellites
A satellite seldom has an orbit
which is aligned so that it orbits
exactly in the plane of the Earth's
equator.
Generally the satellite's orbit is
inclined at an angle to a plane
defined by the Earth's equator.
Such inclined orbits are useful for
Earth observations.
appropriate orbital inclination,
combined with the Earth's
rotation, make it possible to
survey different parts of the
Earth's surface.
42

Orbits of satellites in 2D maps

When mapped onto a 2D map:

The satellite travels around to northern hemisphere to a

maximum latitude and then return through the equator and
wraps around the southern hemisphere.
Note the angle of inclination i
43

Features of the orbits trace

All 4 angles made cutting the equator are equal (i).

The area swept in the northern and southern hemisphere are equal.
Centre of mass for the satellites orbit is the centre of the Earth, hence the
average of the curve MUST lie on top of the equator (red line).
44

Spot the difference

1. Neither of the orbits

sweeps an equal distance
above and below the
equator.
2. Even if one of the lines is
correct, it is impossible
for the other to shift
upwards.
that would imply the
center of mass of the
circular motion will be
above the Earths center.
This is impossible for a
stable orbit. see next
slide

45

 The maps orbit implies

46

Why is the yellow orbit impossible?

yellow orbit ==> upwards shift of the circular motions CM
But orbital motion = free fall (at just the right rate)
The plane of motion should cut through the center of mass of
earth

http://www.asccsa.gc.ca/eng/educators/resources/orbital/track
s_ground.asp

47

Some clips that violates just about

everything we know
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQVzxdTRcAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHjOuYDCNsI
http://www.moxtv.cn/1nRrGIm3WHXCM.html

48

coriolis force

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_
36MiCUS1ro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a
eY9tY9vKgs

49