This week we will begin our Unit on Universal Gravitation. In this unit you will learn about Kepler's three laws of planetary motion and how to apply Newton's law of gravitational motion. This unit covers the TEKS requirements stated as:
The student knows the nature of forces in the physical world. The student is expected to:
(A) research and describe the historical development
of the concepts of gravitational force
(B) describe and calculate how the magnitude
of the gravitational force between two objects depends on their masses and the
distance between their centers.Here are some activities to help you expand your knowledge on Universal Gravitation.
Activity 1
In this activity you will visit physicsclassroom.com to read a tutorial on Universal Gravitation and do some activities dealing with practice problems. You will also find tutorials on Kepler's Laws and links to Flickr pictures on Gravity! All you need to do is click on the student extras in the top right hand of the page.Activity 2
Our second activity is for you to use in helping you solve those pesky homework problems that I insist on giving you. The Universal Gravitation Phet Lab will help you check your answers and make sure that you are properly applying the equations. This lab will help you find the answers to "why everyone in this class is attracted to everyone else." Go to the site and click run now to start the simulation. Then put the numbers in for your problem and click start to check your answers.
Activity 3
Here are a few videos to further explain the concepts of Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation and Kepler's laws.
- Universal Gravitation
This video is by the Brightstorm channel on youtube.com and is very helpful in explaining how to work problems using Newton's equation. - Kepler's laws This video explains the history behind Kepler's laws and defines each law.
