An object is dropped, with no initial velocity, above the surface of planet Big Alpha and falls 13.

5
meters in 3 seconds. The radius of planet Big Alpha is 5.82×106 meters.

a) What is the acceleration of the falling object?

b) What is the mass of planet Big Alpha?

Solution to Problem 1:

a) Given the distance and the time, we can calculate the acceleration a using the distance
formula for the uniform acceleration motion as follows:

d = (1/2) a t 2

a = 2 d / t 2 = 2 × 13.5 / 3 2 = 3 m/s2

b) Let R be the radius and mb be the mass of planet Big Alpha and mo the mass of the object.
The acceleration is due to the universal force of gravity, therefore the universal force of gravity
and Newton's second law give

G mb mo / R2 = mo a

Simplify to obtain

mb = a R2 / G = 3 (5.82×106)2 / (6.674×10-11) = 1.52×1024 Kg

Problem 2:

An object is dropped, with no initial velocity, near the surface of planet Manta reaches a speed
of 21 meters/seconds in 3.0 seconds. Planet Manta has a mass of 2.3 × 1023 Kg.

a) What is the acceleration acting on the object?

b) What is the radius of planet Manta?

Solution to Problem 2:

a) Given the velocity and the time, we can calculate the acceleration a using the velocity formula
of the uniform acceleration motion as follows:

v=at

a = v / t = 21 / 3 = 7 m/s2

b) Let R be the radius and mm be the mass of planet Manta and mo the mass of the object. The
acceleration is due to the universal force of gravity, therefore the universal force of gravity and
Newton's second law give
G mm mo / R2 = mo a

Simplify to obtain

R2 = G mm / a

R = √ ( G mm / a ) = √ [ ( 6.674×10-11)(2.3 × 1023) / 7 ] = 1.48 × 106 m

Problem 3:

A 500 Kg satellite was originally placed into an orbit of radius 24,000 km and a period of 31
hours around planet Barigou.

a) Express the mass of this planet in terms of the Universal constant G, the radius R and the
period T.

b) The satellite was then put into its final orbit of radius 10,000km. What was its new period?

c) What is the change in the kinetic energy of the satellite from the first to the second orbits?

Solution to Problem 3:

a) Let M be the mass of the planet and m (=500 Kg) be the mass of the satellite. Satellite
orbiting means universal gravitaional force and centripetal forces are equal.

G M m / R2 = m v2 / R , v is the orbital speed of the satellite

Simplify: M = R v2 / G

v = 2πR / T

M = R (2πR / T)2 / G = 4π2 R3 / (G T2)

b) Let T1 and T2 be the period of the satellite at R1 = 24,000,000 and R2 = 10,000,000 m
respectively. From the last equation above, we can write

T12 = 4π2 R13 / (M G) and T22 = 4π2 R23 / (M G)

Divide left sides and right sides of the above equations and simplify to obtain

T22 / T12 = R23 / R13

Hence

T2 = √ ( T12 R23 / R13 ) = T1 (R2 / R1 )3/2 = 8.34 hours

c) Let Ek1 and Ek2 be the kinetic energies of the satellite and v1 and v2 the orbital speeds in the
first and the second orbits respectively.

Ek1 = (1/2) m v12 = (1/2) 500 (2πR1 / T1)2

Ek2 = (1/2) m v22 = (1/2) 500 (2πR2 / T2)2

Ek2 - Ek1 = 1000 π2 [(R2 / T2)2 - (R1 / T1)2 ] = 1000 π2 [ (10×106 / (8.34×60×60))2 - (24×106 /
(31×60×60))2 ] = 2.30 × 1012 J