Projectile and Satellite Motion

Projectile Motion

● Projectile
○ Any object projected by some means and continues in motion by its own
inertia
● Horizontal component of velocity is completely independent of the vertical
component when air drag is enough to ignore
○ The constant horizontal velocity component is not affected by the vertical force
of gravity
○ Their combined effects produce trajectories of projectiles
● Vertical component relates to how high the object goes while horizontal component
relates to the horizontal range of the object
● Object would travel a straight line path if there were no gravity

Projectiles Launched Horizontally

● Object travels the same horizontal distance at equal times because there is no
component of gravitation force acting horizontally
○ Gravity only acts downward; acceleration of the ball is downward
● Parabola
○ Trajectory of a projectile that accelerates in only the vertical direction while
moving at a constant horizontal velocity

● Example: Two cannonballs launched

○ Horizontal vs dropped from rest
■ Both strike the ground at the same time because both fall the same
vertical distance
○ Upward angle vs dropped from rest
■ Dropped cannonball strikes the ground first
○ Downward angle vs dropped from rest
■ Downward launch wins
Projectiles Launched at an Angle
● Vertical distance is the same for equal times
○ Vertical distance is independent of what’s happening horizontally
○ Same vertical distance if it were dropped
● After many seconds t, the projectile should be at a certain point along a straight-line
path (but it doesn’t because of gravity)
○ Distance would be 5t2
■ Does not depend on the angle of launch
■ Formula applies to only vertical motion under the acceleration of
gravity
● Projectile moves the same horizontal distance in equal time intervals
○ No acceleration takes place horizontally; only vertical acceleration due to
gravity
● No vertical component at the top of the trajectory, only the horizontal component
● Objects launched at complimentary angles have the same horizontal ranges
○ Maximum range occurs at 45°
● When air drag slows an object, its horizontal speed at the top is less than its horizontal
speed when leaving the launcher
○ Maximum range must leave with more horizontal speed than vertical (25°-34°)
● Launching speeds are not equal for heavy projectiles thrown at different angles
● When air drag is negligible, a projectile will rise to its maximum height in the same
time it takes to fall from that height to its initial level
○ Deceleration by gravity while going up is the same as its acceleration by
gravity coming down
○ The speed it loses going up is the same it gains coming down
Fast-Moving Projectiles—Satellites

● SImple projectile moving fast enough to orbit its celestial body or high-speed
projectile
● Earth satellite falls continuously around Earth
○ Above Earth’s atmosphere, where they are free of air drag that would reduce
their orbital speed
● Whatever the speed of any projectile, it will fall a vertical distance of 5 meters in the
first second of travel
● Earth drops a vertical distance of 5 meters for every 8000 meters tangent to the
surface
○ Speed of a projectile that will match Earth’s curvature is 8 km/s
○ Process of falling with the curvature of Earth continues from tangent line to
tangent line, all around the Earth
■ At high altitudes where distance from Earth’s center is greater and
gravity is less, speeds are somewhat less than 8 km/s for circular orbits
● At orbital speeds, atmospheric friction incinerates projectiles
○ Happens to grains of sand and small meteors that graze the atmosphere
■ Burn up and appear as “falling stars”
■ Earth satellites are launched to altitudes higher than 150 km (to be
above the atmosphere NOT gravity)

● Example: Cannonball launched above the atmosphere

○ Low horizontal speed: follow a curved path and soot hit a place on Earth
○ Fired faster: path would be wider and would hit a place on Earth farther away
○ Fired fast enough: circle the Earth indefinitely; be in orbit

● Without air drag to reduce speed, satellites (and Moon) “falls” around the Earth
indefinitely
● Constant rate of free fall because of its tangential velocity
Circular Satellite Orbits

● Speed of satellite is not changed by gravity; gravity only changes the direction
○ Gravity pulls straight downward with no component of force acting forward or
backward
● Satellite in circular orbit always moves in a direction perpendicular to the force of
gravity
○ A radius of a circle is everywhere perpendicular to its circumference
● Satellites are in a state of free fall
● Period to complete an orbit is about 90 minutes
● Orbital speed is less for higher altitudes
○ Distance is greater, period is longer

Elliptical Orbits

● Projectile above the resistance of the atmosphere is given a horizontal speed

somewhat greater than 8 km/s
○ Overshoots a circular path and trace an oval path
● Closed path taken by a point that moves in such a way that the sum of its distance
from two fixed points (foci) is constant
○ For a satellite, one focus is at the center of the planet and the other could be
internal or external to the planet
○ The closer the foci to each other, the closer the ellipse to a circle
○ When both foci are together, it is a circle
● Speed of satellite varies
○ It overshoots in a circular path and moves away from Earth, against the force
of gravity (it loses speed)
■ The speed it loses in receding is regained as it falls back towards Earth
■ It finally rejoins its original path with the same speed it had initially
○ Greatest speed is where its nearest to Earth and slowest at the farthest point
Kepler’s Law of Planetary Motion

● First to coin the word satellite

● The path of each planet around the Sun is an ellipse with the Sun at one focus
● Planets do not revolve around the Sun at a uniform speed
○ Move faster when nearer to the sun
○ They do this in such a way that an imaginary line or spoke joining the Sun
sweeps out equal areas of space in equal times
○ The triangle area swept out during a month when a planet is orbiting far from
the Sun is equal to the triangular area swept out during a month when the
planet is orbiting closer to the Sun
● Kepler’s Second Law
○ The line from the Sun to any planet sweeps out equal areas of space in equal
time intervals
● Kepler’s Third Law
○ The square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube
of the average distance of the planet from the Sun (T2 ~ r3 for all planets)
○ The ratio T2/r3 is the same for all planets
Energy Conservation and Satellite Motion

● Everywhere in its orbit, a satellite has both KE and PE

○ Its sum in constant through the orbit
● In a circular orbit, the gravitational force that points to Earth’s center is always
perpendicular to the orbital path
○ With no component of gravitational force along the path, only the direction of
motion changes (not the speed)
● In elliptical orbit, the satellite moves in directions that are not perpendicular
○ Components of force do exist along the path, which change the speed
○ A component of force along the satellites path does work to change its KE

Circular orbit
● Distance between satellite and center of the attracting body does not change
● PE and KE is the same everywhere
● Unchanging PE, KE, and speed

Elliptical orbit
● Both speed and distance vary
● PE is greatest when satellite is farthest away (apogee) and smallest when it’s closest
(perigee)
● KE will be smallest when PE is greatest, and opposite for when PE is smallest
● Sum of KE and Pe are the same
● At all points except the apogee and perigee, there is a component of gravitational
force parallel to the direction of motion of the satellite
○ It changes the speed of the satellite
■ This component of force ✕ distance moved = 𝚫KE
○ When the satellite gains altitudes and moves against this component, its
speed and KE decrease and continues to the apogee
■ Once past the apogee, the satellite moves in the same direction as the
component, and the speed and KE increase
■ Increase continues until the satellite whips past the perigee and repeats
the cycle
Escape Speed

● If 8 km/s was fired vertically instead of horizontally, it would rise to some maximum
height, reverse direction, and fall back down
● Also called the maximum falling speed
● Speed is 11.2 km/s
○ If a projectile has greater speed, it will leave Earth, traveling slower and slower,
never stopping due to gravity
● The change of PE of a 1-kg body moved from the surface of Earth to an infinite
distance is 63 million joules
○ The energy is added over a distance as the payload is lifted from Earth’s
distance
● As it continues outward, its PE increases and its KE decreases
○ Its speed becomes less and less but never reduced to zero
● Escape speed varies in different bodies in the solar system