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Video Clips

RealVideo®
4:56 minutes (12:21 - 17:17)
Uniform circular motion calculations for planets, and graph showing that ac, and thus gravity, falls off as 1/R2.
Prof. Walter Lewin
Centripetal Force (6:21 of V5)
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RealVideo®
6:56 minutes (0:00 - 6:56)
Calculation of escape velocity as well as velocity and period of circular orbit.
Prof. Walter Lewin
Conservation of Energy (17:00 of V11)
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RealVideo®
6:41 minutes (6:56 - 13:37)
Calculation of v, T for shuttle, moon, Earth, and Jupiter; V and T independent of mass.
Prof. Walter Lewin
Circular Orbits (beginning of V14)
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RealVideo®
6:53 minutes (32:37 - 39:30)
Law of universal gravitation; velocity, potential, and kinetic energy for Earth's orbit; escape velocity for Earth.
Prof. Walter Lewin
Gravitation (31:11 of V11)
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RealVideo®
10:09 minutes (0:00 - 10:09)
Statements of Kepler's three laws of planetary motion; numerical evidence for third law; consequences of third law.
Prof. Walter Lewin
None
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RealVideo®
7:14 minutes (10:09 - 17:23)
Calculated from initial orbital conditions; example of Earth orbit solved explicitly.
Prof. Walter Lewin
Kepler's Laws (beginning of V22)
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RealVideo®
6:49 minutes (17:23 - 24:12)
Calculation using conservation of angular momentum; velocity and position of apogee and perigee calculated for Earth orbit.
Prof. Walter Lewin
Calculating Semi-major Axis and Period (10:09 of V22)
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RealVideo®
3:57 minutes (24:12 - 28:09)
Qualitative description of change from circular to elliptical orbit for changing speed.
Prof. Walter Lewin
Elliptical Orbits (beginning of V22)
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RealVideo®
11:28 minutes (28:02 - 39:30)
Calculation of speed and trajectory for throwing sandwich between two spacecraft in same orbit; finding infinite number of solutions.
Prof. Walter Lewin
Changing Orbits (24:12 of V22)
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RealVideo®
9:36 minutes (39:30 - 49:06)
Computer simulation of several possible trajectories for the sandwich, including several failures.
Prof. Walter Lewin
Passing a Ham Sandwich I (28:02 of V22)
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Lecture Notes

PDF - 1.6 MB
Page 4 to page 6
Circular orbits; elliptical orbits with example; escape velocity; general planetary motion; kinetic energy and momentum of two-particle systems.
Prof. Stanley Kowalski
Gravitational Forces
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PDF - 1.5 MB
Page 1 to page 6
Conservation of energy and momentum of orbiting bodies; characteristics of circular, elliptical, hyperbolic, and parabolic orbits; Kepler's Laws, with example.
Prof. Stanley Kowalski
Lecture 28
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PDF
Page 10 to page 20
Circular orbits; elliptical orbits with example; escape velocity; general planetary motion; kinetic energy and momentum of two-particle systems.
Prof. Stanley Kowalski
Gravitational Forces
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PDF
Page 1 to page 19
Conservation of energy and momentum of orbiting bodies; characteristics of circular, elliptical, hyperbolic, and parabolic orbits; Kepler's Laws, with example.
Prof. Stanley Kowalski
Lecture 28
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PDF
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Page 1
Equations for angular momentum of orbiting bodies; connection of angular momentum and rotational energy to equation of orbit.
Moment of Inertia
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PDF
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Page 10 to page 29
Kepler's laws defined; description of Kepler two body problem; reduction of two body problem and solution of one body problem; energy diagram of circular, elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic orbits; equations for position, energy, and angular momentum of an orbiting body; properties of an ellipse; Kepler's equal area law defined; Kepler's law for period of orbit.
Dr. Peter Dourmashkin, Prof. J. David Litster, Prof. David Pritchard, Prof. Bernd Surrow
Lecture 26
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Practice Problems

PDF
Problem 1
Motion of spacecraft in orbit around a planet.
Dr. George Stephans
None
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PDF
Problem 1
Motion of spacecraft in orbit around a planet.
Dr. George Stephans
None
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PDF
Problem 15
Modeling the orbit of the moon and finding its period.
Dr. Peter Dourmashkin, Prof. J. David Litster, Prof. David Pritchard, Prof. Bernd Surrow
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PDF
Problem 16
Motion of a planet orbiting a star through a cloud of dust.
Dr. Peter Dourmashkin, Prof. J. David Litster, Prof. David Pritchard, Prof. Bernd Surrow
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PDF
Problem 1
Finding the radius of the orbit of a synchronous satellite that circles the earth.
Dr. Peter Dourmashkin, Prof. J. David Litster, Prof. David Pritchard, Prof. Bernd Surrow
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PDF
Problem 1
Energy required to change a satellite's orbit from circular to elliptical.
Dr. Peter Dourmashkin, Prof. J. David Litster, Prof. David Pritchard, Prof. Bernd Surrow
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Problem 1
Finding initial velocity for satellite launched with given acceleration and angle.
Prof. Walter Lewin
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PDF
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Problem 3
7-part orbit problem; finding impulses to allow spacecraft to reach sun.
Prof. Walter Lewin
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PDF
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Problem 1h
Short qualitative problem about when to fire engines for reentry in elliptical orbit.
Prof. Walter Lewin
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Exam Questions

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Problem 11
Motion of a small mass launched from the surface of the earth.
Dr. George Stephans
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PDF
Problem 5
Motion of a satellite in an elliptical orbit around a planet.
Dr. Peter Dourmashkin, Prof. J. David Litster, Prof. David Pritchard, Prof. Bernd Surrow
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PDF
Problem B5
Elliptical orbit of a comet around the sun.
Dr. Peter Dourmashkin, Prof. J. David Litster, Prof. David Pritchard, Prof. Bernd Surrow
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Problem 3
5-part binary star problem; calculating Fg, a, T.
Prof. Walter Lewin
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Problem 9
Speed and energy at apogee for elliptically orbiting satellite.
Dr. Peter Dourmashkin, Prof. Kate Scholberg
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PDF
Problem 7b to problem 7e
4-part elliptical orbit problem; finding apogee v, total energy, v0.
Prof. Walter Lewin
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