Lecture 16: 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: lec16.pptx
- Pdf (recommended for printing): lec16.pdf
| Potential energy | Video 1 | with captions |
| Potential energy diagrams | Video 2 | with captions |
| Escape speed. Examples. | Video 3 | with captions |
| Example: orbital energy of a satellite | Video 4 | with captions |
| Example problem: multiple objects | Video 5 | with captions |
Extras:
| Additional example problem | Video.mp4 | with captions |
| For your interest: Gravity visualized | Link to youtube |
Homework assignment: HW #16