Physics Behind GPS

Mitchell Henry

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a network of around 30 satellites orbiting Earth. The
system was first designed for military use by the US government, however now anyone with a
GPS device can now use the network.

Every location on the planet has at least four GPS satellites in range. These transmit
information about their current position and time, which are intercepted by GPS receivers, which
calculate how far away the GPS receiver is based on the time it took for the message to arrive
(displacement = time x velocity, where velocity is the speed of light as radio waves are
electromagnetic).

Once the information on how far away each of the three satellites are is calculated by the
receiver, it can pinpoint its own location using a process called trilateration. If the receiver lies
for example 1000 km away from satellite A, then it must lie on the circumference of a circle with
radius 1000 km and the satellite in the centre. This is done similarly with the other two satellites
- the point where the three circles intersect is the location of the GPS receiver.

According to relatively, time will appear to run slower under a stronger gravitational pull - the
clocks on earth, since they are closer to the earths centre, will run slower than the clocks on
board the satellites. The GPS network and the clocks on board these satellites however use
software to compensate for this effect, proving that relativity has a real impact. Software also
also corrects for any delays the radio waves experience when travelling through the
atmosphere.