Name: Leung Hin Ming

SID: 1155033347
Course: UGEB2401C
Problem set 2
1. (a) (A)Johannes Kepler (B)Tycho Brahe (C)ellipse
(b) (A) (B)(C)(D)(E) vernal (F) autumnal
(c) (A) brightness (B) 100 (C) -26.74 (D) 6.5
(d) (A) epicycle (B) circle (C) geocentric
2. (a) This is because the Earths gravity has much less effect on us,
since the weight is depends on the gravitational force form Earth.
If we is far away from Earth, this effect is smaller.
(b) In this case the gravitational force is not cause from the
Earth. If the space shuttle is far away from any planet, it means
nearly no gravity is acting on the space shuttle.
(c) No, Galileo is right. A hammer falls faster than a feather is
because the air resistance exists. If the experiment conducting in
a vacuum place, the falling speed of a hammer and a feather is
the same. Since the falling speed is depends on the gravity.
(d) No, Galileo is right. The objects will slow down and stop finally
because of the friction of the horizontal plane. If the friction
disappears, the objects will move with a constant velocity on a
horizontal plane.
3. (a) Retrograde motion is apparent motion of a planet to move in
a direction opposite to other bodies in the solar system. Ptolemy
makes the Earth as the center of the solar system, and he raise
out the idea of epicycle which can explain the planets move in
retrograde direction.
(b) Morning star is the planet that it appears in the east before
sunrise. Evening star is the plant that it appears in the west after
sunset.
Mercury and Venus are close to the sun compare with the Earth.
Their orbits are faster than the Earth. When they are behind the
Earths orbit, they appear in the west after sunset. When they
overcome the orbit of the Earth, it appears in the east before
sunrise.
(c) For the Ptolemys model, it needs more assumption to explain

the motion of planets like Mars and Venus. For the Copernicans
model, which claim that the Planets orbited the Sun, is much
simpler to explain the motion of the planets. By the Occams
razor theory, it is better to use less to do the same thing. So
Copernicans model is more superior than Ptolemys model.
4. (a) A
(b)

(c) 4
(d) We can still define the ecliptic because only the direction of spin
change, but the position of the path does not change.