Lecture

Gravitational Forces: Orbital Mechanics

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In course

PHYS-101(j): General physics : mechanics

Le but du cours de physique générale est de donner à l'étudiant les notions de base nécessaires à la compréhension des phénomènes physiques. L'objectif est atteint lorsque l'étudiant est capable de prévoir quantitativement les conséquences de ces phénomène ...

Description

This lecture covers the fundamental concepts of gravitational forces, focusing on orbital mechanics, including Kepler's laws, moment of inertia, circular and curvilinear motion, and the demonstration of the gravitational force. It also explores the energy aspects of gravitational systems, such as potential and kinetic energies, and the transfer of orbits using Hohmann transfer. The lecture concludes with an overview of the main types of satellite orbits, including Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), and Geostationary Orbit (GEO).

Instructors (2)

Yves Revaz

Yves Revaz is a scientist at LASTRO/EPFL. After successful studies in physics at EPFL, he accomplished his PhD entitled: "Dynamics of external regions of spiral galaxies and constraints on the dark matter", at the Geneva Observatory in the galactic dynamics group of Prof. D. Pfenniger. He then moved to the Paris Observatory to work at the LERMA (Laboratory for Studies of Radiation and Matter in Astrophysics) under the supervision of Prof. F. Combes on the understanding of cooling flows in galaxy clusters. He joined LASTRO at EPFL in 2007, where, in collaboration with Pascale Jablonka, he developed a new TreePM/SPH chemo-dynamical code called GEAR, designed to study the chemical evolution of galaxies. His current main research focus on the evolution of dwarf spheroidal galaxies and their link with the cosmology. Yves Revaz is also the author of pNbody, a parallelized python toolbox designed to manipulate large N-body systems.

Jean-Paul Richard Kneib

Expertise Cosmology, Gravitational Lensing, Redshift Survey, First Galaxies, Cluster of Galaxies, Fiber-positioner robotic system, Radio Astronomy, Space Sustainibility Current work

Former Principal investigator of the SDSS-IV eBOSS project. This is an international project assembling more than 150 participants located mainly in Europe, USA and China. This project will observe 1.5 million galaxy and quasars over 2014-2020 to accurately measure the expansion history of the Universe. * Member of the DESI co

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Mechanics: Classical mechanics

Related concepts (32)

Orbit

In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a planet, moon, asteroid, or Lagrange point. Normally, orbit refers to a regularly repeating trajectory, although it may also refer to a non-repeating trajectory.

Orbital mechanics

Orbital mechanics or astrodynamics is the application of ballistics and celestial mechanics to the practical problems concerning the motion of rockets and other spacecraft. The motion of these objects is usually calculated from Newton's laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation. Orbital mechanics is a core discipline within space-mission design and control. Celestial mechanics treats more broadly the orbital dynamics of systems under the influence of gravity, including both spacecraft and natural astronomical bodies such as star systems, planets, moons, and comets.

Geostationary orbit

A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitude above Earth's equator, in radius from Earth's center, and following the direction of Earth's rotation. An object in such an orbit has an orbital period equal to Earth's rotational period, one sidereal day, and so to ground observers it appears motionless, in a fixed position in the sky. The concept of a geostationary orbit was popularised by the science fiction writer Arthur C.

Potential energy

In physics, potential energy is the energy held by an object because of its position relative to other objects, stresses within itself, its electric charge, or other factors. The term potential energy was introduced by the 19th-century Scottish engineer and physicist William Rankine, although it has links to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle's concept of potentiality. Common types of potential energy include the gravitational potential energy of an object, the elastic potential energy of an extended spring, and the electric potential energy of an electric charge in an electric field.

Moment of inertia

The moment of inertia, otherwise known as the mass moment of inertia, angular mass, second moment of mass, or most accurately, rotational inertia, of a rigid body is a quantity that determines the torque needed for a desired angular acceleration about a rotational axis, akin to how mass determines the force needed for a desired acceleration. It depends on the body's mass distribution and the axis chosen, with larger moments requiring more torque to change the body's rate of rotation.

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