Unit 3: Motion, Energy and

Gravity 2
By : Aisha Al Rifaii
 ATMOSPHERIC DRAG

• Friction can cause objects to lose orbital energy.

• For example, consider a satellite orbiting Earth. If the
orbit is fairly low—say, just a few hundred kilometers
above Earth’s surface—the satellite experiences a bit of
drag from Earth’s thin upper atmosphere.
• This drag gradually causes the satellite to lose orbital
energy until it finally plummets to Earth. The satellite’s
lost orbital energy is converted to thermal energy in the
atmosphere, which is why a falling satellite usually burns
up.
 ATMOSPHERIC DRAG

• Friction may also have played a role in shaping the current

orbits of some of the small moons of Jupiter and other
planets.
• These moons may once have orbited the Sun independently,
and their orbits could not have changed spontaneously.
 TIDE

• Tides arise because gravity attracts Earth and the Moon toward each
other (with the Moon staying in orbit as it “falls around” Earth), but it
affects different parts of Earth slightly differently: Because the strength of
gravity declines with distance, the gravitational attraction of each part of
Earth to the Moon becomes weaker as we go from the side of Earth
facing the Moon to the side facing away from the Moon.
• This difference in attraction creates a “stretching force,” or tidal
force, that stretches the entire Earth to create two tidal bulges—one
facing the Moon and one opposite the Moon
TIDE

spring tides, a common historical term that has nothing to

do with the season of spring. Rather, the term is derived from
the concept of the tide "springing forth." Spring tides occur
twice each lunar month all year long, without regard to the
season.

neap tides, meaning that high tides are a little lower and low
tides are a little higher than average. Neap tides occur during
the first and third quarter moon, when the moon appears
"half full."
TIDES
 TIDE

• Tides affect both land and ocean, but we generally notice only
the ocean tides because water flows much more readily than
land.
• The Sun also affects the tides. Although the Sun is much more
massive than the Moon, its tidal effect on Earth is smaller
because its much greater distance means that the difference in
the Sun’s pull on the near and far sides of Earth is relatively
small
 TIDE

• When the tidal forces of the Sun and the

Moon work together, as is the case at both
new moon and full moon, we get the especially
pronounced spring tides (so named because
the water tends to “spring up” from Earth).
• When the tidal forces of the Sun and the
Moon counteract each other, as is the case
at first- and third-quarter moon, we get the
relatively small tides known as neap tides.
TIDE
 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

1. What do the three black arrows represent?

a. the tidal force Earth exerts on the Moon
b. the Moon’s gravitational force at different
points on Earth
c. the direction in which Earth’s water is
flowing
d. Earth’s orbital motion
 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

2. Where is it high tide?

a. Point 1 only
b. Point 2 only
c. Points 1 and 3
d. Points 2 and 4
3. Where is it low tide?
a. Point 1 only b. Point 2 only
c. Points 1 and 3 d. Points 2 and 4
 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

3. What time is it at Point 1?

a. Noon
b. midnight
c. 6 a.m.
d. cannot be determined from the information in
the figure
 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

When would we experience the highest high tides and

the lowest high tides?
a. At first quarter Moon
b. At 3rd quarter Moon
c. At new Moon d. At full Moon
e. At both new Moon and full Moon
 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

• Approximately where is it currently high tide on Earth?

A. Anywhere that ocean water laps upon the shore
B. Only on the portion of the Earth facing directly toward the
Moon
C. On the portion of the Earth facing directly toward the Moon
and on the portion of the Earth
facing directly away from the Moon
D. Wherever it is currently noon
 ALBERT EINSTEIN AND GRAVITY

Einstein's General Theory of Relativity (1916), which was a theory

of how gravity curves space, predicted that starlight passing
by the Sun during a total solar eclipse would be bent by the
gravity of the Sun. In 1919 this was measured. As a result,
Einstein became famous to the rest of the world.
ALBERT EINSTEIN AND GRAVITY
ALBERT EINSTEIN AND GRAVITY
 ALBERT EINSTEIN AND GRAVITY

• Astronomers in the 18th and 19th centuries made very accurate

measures of the positions of the planets.
• They noted that the direction of the elliptical orbit of Mercury was
changing direction time. The shift amounts to 5601 arc seconds per
century, less than 1.6 degrees.
• Newton's gravitational theory could account for 5558 arcseconds of this
advance of the perihelion
• . Einstein's theory of gravity explained the extra 43 arc seconds per
century of the shift.
 ALBERT EINSTEIN AND GRAVITY

• The General Theory of Relativity was very successful because it

explained a number of observational phenomena:
1) Bending of starlight during solar eclipses
2) Advance of the perihelion of Mercury (Newtonian theory could not
explain all the rotation of the orbit)
 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

• According to Einstein, gravity is just a result of curved space-time.

a. True
b. False
 PROJECT TOPICS

• The Reason for Seasons

• What causes the seasons?
• How does the orientation
• The Moon, Our Constant Companion
• Why do we see phases of the Moon?
• What causes eclipses?
• The Ancient Mystery of the Planets Asteroids and Meteorites
• Why is there an asteroid belt?
• How are meteorites related to asteroids?
 PROJECT TOPICS

• Comets
• How do comets get their tails?
• Where do comets come from?
• Pluto: Lone Dog No More
• How big can a comet be?
• What are Pluto and other large objects of the Kuiper belt like?
• Star Birth
• How do stars form?
• How massive are newborn stars?
• White Dwarfs
• What is a white dwarf?
• What can happen to a white dwarf in a close binary system?
• Neutron Stars
• What is a neutron star?
• How were neutron stars discovered?
• What can happen to a neutron star in a close binary system?
• aurora lights