Lecture 14: Gravitational potential energy and space travel
Objectives: In this lecture, students will learn to- derive a potential energy for the force of universal gravitation
- graph the potential energy and use it to interpret motion with different total mechanical energy
- apply the concept of energy conservation to space travel problems
- explain the escape condition and derive an expression for the escape speed
- derive an expression for the total mechanical energy of a satellite in orbit
- Powerpoint: lec14.pptx
- Pdf (recommended for printing): lec14.pdf
| Potential energy | lec14_2.mp4 | with captions |
| Potential energy diagrams | lec14_3.mp4 | with captions |
| Escape speed | lec14_4.mp4 | with captions |
| Orbital energy of a satellite | lec14_5.mp4 | with captions |
| Example with multiple objects | lec14_6.mp4 | with captions |
| For your interest: Gravity visualized | Link to youtube |
Homework assignment: HW #14