Serena Aeschilman

PHYS 1010
1

Space is an area that has yet to be fully discovered. It is an area that isn't being utilized as
well as it should. There is a lot of space available for use, but there are a variety of obstacles
involved to get objects from the Earth into Space. Lots of physic s is involved when trying to
send objects into space. Some of the applied physics ideas that can be involved are Motion,
Forces, energy, gravity, and projectile motion. In this situation, a recent European launch called
Ariane 5 rocket, on Aug 24, successfully "placed two satellites into geostationary transfer orbit"
(Selding 2016).
Motion is the process of moving. In this scenario of the launching of Ariane 5, it is
moving from Earth to geostationary orbit (about 35,786 km). The rocket itself will continue in
motion, as according to Newton's First Law, objects in motion stay in motion. It can't necessarily
stop, but it can very well go into negative acceleration. The objects that the rocket was releasing,
the two satellites, will not be in motion, as they are being released. Once they reach orbit, the
motion of the rotating Earth will make it seem like the satellite is moving, but it isn't. This is an
example of relative motion. Due to us being on the Earth, we believe space is moving to us, but it
is the other way around. It is all based on our frame of reference on the Earth. Newton's Third
law of motion is that all forces in the universe occur in equal but oppositely directed pairs. In this
scenario, the gasoline is being used and expelled as exhaust to produce thrust to accelerate the
rocket. Newton's second law is force is equal to mass and acceleration. In this scenario, the
rocket weighed 6,575 kg at lunch, and accelerated accordingly.
Forces are often known as a "push or pull". Forces act on just about all objects. This is
known as weight, which can be found by the equation mass x gravity= weight. There are a
variety of different forces that can be applied in this instance of the Ariane 5 satellite. To get the

Ariane out of the Earth's atmosphere, it requires lift and thrust. Thrust is how the rocket gets
pushed. It follows Newton's 3rd law, as the thrust is directed opposite the direction of action. Lift
is used as air flows around the object. It is directed perpendicular to the initial direction and
assists in getting the satellite into the air. Without these forces, it would be nearly impossible to
get the Ariane 5 into space.
Work is required to push objects against gravity. In the case of Ariane 5, it is going into
our Earth's orbit, which means it needs to fly upward, against gravity. Work is thus required for
this action to be achievable. Mechanical energy is energy due to the movement of an object in
the form of potential energy, so as Ariane 5 is pushed through the Earth's atmosphere, the
potential energy is being converted to Kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is equal to the work
required to bring it to its speed from rest, or the work the object can do while being brought to
rest. The source of energy in terms of Ariane 5 would be the fuel propellant and engine
progressing it through the air. Due to the nature of the engine, the energy can't be recycled, but it
is conserved. The fuel is converted into heat after being used.
Gravity is a force that is different on every planet. Specifically on Earth, the force of
gravity is 9.81m/s. This gravitational pull reflects deeply on other objects in space. In the case of
Ariane 5, the satellite has had quite a journey. It had to overcome the gravitational pull, which
requires energy and work. Upon leaving the Earth's atmosphere, the gravitational pull differed,
allowing it to free flow in space. According to Newton's First Law of Motion, an object in
motion will stay in motion. The energy required to get Ariane 5 into space will continue to move.
The orbit track it takes around the Earth is caused by gravity, as it lightly pulls the object toward
the Earth. Without gravity, Ariane 5 would be exploring space in a straight line.

Projectile motion is the motion which is caused by gravity. Without gravity, an object
thrown in space- or anywhere- would follow a straight line path. With gravity, the object follows
a curved path. The object continues due to inertia. Ariane 5 is in orbit around the Earth due to
gravity. Projectile motion plays a major role in orbit, without it, everything we launch into space
would continue into space, rather than around the Earth. Satellites, which were launched into
space, falls around the Earth rather than into it. The horizontal and vertical speeds match Earth's
curvatures, allowing satellites to orbit above the Earth's atmosphere. Kepler's laws of planetary
motion takes into account an elliptical orbit. The square of orbital period of a planet is also
directly proportional to the cube of the average distance of the planet from the sun. These are all
notions of planetary motion, which allows projectile motion to assist in keeping Satellites in orbit
around the Earth.
With the recent launch of the Ariane 5 rocket, the satellites landed in orbit due to motion,
forces, energy, gravity, and projectile motion. Space is an unknown, and launching objects into
space to benefit the surface of the Earth is helpful. The obstacles are overcome due to various
laws of physics, which were stated above. Now that Ariane 5 has made it into orbit, more
communication via satellites can be maintained.

Bibliography:
Peter B. De Selding. "Ariane 5 Successfully Places Two Intelsat Satellites Into Orbit."Space.com.
Space News, n.d. Web. 25 Aug. 2016.
http://www.space.com/33860-ariane-5-successfully-places-two-intelsat-satellites-into-orbit.html