ABSTRACT

The reason for choosing this topic is for me to thoroughly understand the
concept of gravitation and its fascinating applications in the real world.
Studying gravitation can lead to a better understanding of how celestial
bodies interact and move, and it has practical applications in fields such as
astronomy, space exploration, and even everyday phenomena on Earth.

We all know that on earth what goes up comes down. Yet we can’t believe
that man-made objects such as planes and rockets can oppose GRAVITY.
Gravity plays an important role in our lives yet at times it makes life difficult
for us. We will be emphasizing its pivotal role in shaping our understanding
of the universe and contributing to advancements in fields like astrophysics,
space exploration, and technological innovation.

Beginning with early observations by ancient astronomers such as Aristotle

and Ptolemy, the project navigates through pivotal contributions made by
scientists like Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo, laying the groundwork for
Isaac Newton's groundbreaking law of universal gravitation, it is undeniable
that gravitation is one of the most important and most debated topics in
physics.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S. NO TOPIC PAGE NO.

1.
 INTRODUCTION

What started with PTOLEMY saying that the earth is not flat and it all
planets revolve around the earth is 2000 years ago. ARYABHATTA had a
similar theory where all planets revolve around the sun (during 450 AD).
Next in line was NICHOLAS COPRENICIUS (during the early 15th century)
who clarified that all planets revolve around the sun in a circle, thereby
bringing the heliocentric theory. Next was TYCO BRAHE (late 15th century)
whose notes had a theory that planets do not orbit in circles but rather in
ellipses. It was his student JOHANNES KEPLER (16th century) who proved
that the planets orbit around the sun in perfect ellipses. GALILEO GALILEI
also helped in finding planets and stars using his primitive telescope and
prove that the moon also rotates with the Earth. Finally, Newton concluded
with the law of gravitation, followed by which was the determination of
gravitational constant, and acceleration due to gravity in the earth.

Gravitation is one of the four classes of interactions found in nature. These

are
(i) the gravitational force
(ii) the electromagnetic force
(iii) the strong nuclear force (also called the hadronic force)
(iv) the weak nuclear forces.
Although, of negligible importance in the interactions of elementary
particles, gravity is of primary importance in the interactions of objects. It is
gravity that holds the universe together.

Important Points about Gravitational Force:

(i) Gravitational force is a central as well as conservative force.
(ii) It is the weakest force in nature.
(iii) It is 1036 times smaller than electrostatic force and10’l8times smaller
than nuclear force.
(iv) The law of gravitational is applicable for all bodies, irrespective of their
size, shape and position.
(v) Gravitational force acting between sun and planet provide it centripetal
force for orbital motion.
(vi) Gravitational pull of the earth is called gravity.
(vii) Newton’s third law of motion holds good for the force of gravitation. It
means the gravitation forces between two bodies are action-reaction pairs.
(viii) Unlike the electrostatic force, it is independent of the medium between
the particles
(ix) It is conservative in nature.
(x) It expresses the force between two-point masses (of negligible volume).
However, for external points of spherical bodies the whole mass can be
assumed to be concentrated at its center of mass.

Acceleration due to Gravity:

The uniform acceleration produced in a freely falling object due to the
gravitational pull of the earth is known as acceleration due to gravity. It is
denoted by g and its unit is . It is a vector quantity and its direction is
towards the center of the earth. The value of g is independent of the mass of
the object which is falling freely under gravity. The value of g changes
slightly from place to place. The value of g is taken to be 9.8 for all
practical purposes. The value of acceleration due to gravity on the moon is
about one sixth of that on the earth and on the sun is about 27 times of that
on the earth. Among the planets, the acceleration due to gravity is minimum
on Mercury.

Orbital Velocity:
Orbital velocity of a satellite is the minimum velocity required to launch the
satellite into a given orbit around earth. Orbital velocity of a satellite is given
by: =

where, M = mass of the planet, R = radius of the planet, g= acceleration due

to gravity and h = height of the satellite from planet’s surface.
Escape velocity:
Escape velocity on earth is the minimum velocity with which a body has to
be projected vertically upwards from the earth’s surface so that it just
crosses the earth’s gravitational field and never returns. Escape velocity of
any object is given by:

NOTE: Escape velocity of a planet is always times the orbital velocity.

 INVESTIGATORY MODEL

To understand how satellites can orbit around the earth we need to learn
about the orbits of the planets. In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved
trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, of a
natural satellite around a planet, or an artificial satellite around an object or
position in space such as a planet, moon, asteroid, or Lagrange point.

Why do all the planets orbit in the same plane?

There’s a physical quantity that has to be conserved: angular momentum,
which tells us how much the entire system — gas, dust, star, and all — is
intrinsically spinning. Because of how angular momentum works overall,
and how it’s shared pretty evenly between the different particles inside, this
means that everything in the disk needs to move, roughly, in the same
(clockwise or counter-clockwise) direction overall. Over time, that disk
reaches a stable size and thickness, and then small gravitational
instabilities begin to grow those instabilities into planets.

i.e., 𝐿 =𝐿 , 𝐿 = 𝐼𝜔
w h e r e L i s a n g u l a r m o m e n t u m , I i s r o t a t i o n a l inertia, and ω (the
Greek letter omega) is angular velocity
Orbital planes of the planets:

Today, we’ve mapped out the orbits of the planets to incredible precision,
and what we find is that they go around the Sun — all of them — in the
same two-dimensional plane, to within an accuracy of, at most, 7°
difference, if you take Mercury out of the equation, the innermost and most
inclined planet, you’ll find that everything else is well-aligned: the deviation
from the Solar System’s invariable plane, or the average plane-of-orbit of the
planets, is only about two degrees.
Distance of the planets from the Sun:
The eight planets in our solar system each occupy their orbits around the
Sun. They orbit the star in ellipses, which means their distance to the sun
varies depending on where they are in their orbits. When they get closest to
the Sun, it’s called perihelion, and when it’s farthest away, it’s called
aphelion. So, to talk about how far the planets are from the sun is a difficult
question, not only because their distances constantly change, but also
because the spans are so immense — making it hard for a human to grasp.
For this reason, astronomers often use a term called an astronomical unit,
representing the distance from the Earth to the Sun. The table below (first
created by Universe Today founder Fraser Cain in 2008) shows all the
planets and their distance to the Sun, as well as how close these planets get
to Earth.

Mercury:

Closest: 46 million km / 29 million miles (.307 AU)

Farthest: 70 million km / 43 million miles (.466 AU)
Average: 57 million km / 35 million miles (.387 AU)
Closest to Mercury from Earth: 77.3 million km / 48 million miles

Venus:

Closest: 107 million km / 66 million miles (.718 AU)

Farthest: 109 million km / 68 million miles (.728 AU)
Average: 108 million km / 67 million miles (.722 AU)
Closest to Venus from Earth: 40 million km / 25 million miles

Earth:

Closest: 147 million km / 91 million miles (.98 AU)

Farthest: 152 million km / 94 million miles (1.01 AU)
Average: 150 million km / 93 million miles (1 AU)
Mars:

Closest: 205 million km / 127 million miles (1.38 AU)

Farthest: 249 million km / 155 million miles (1.66 AU)
Average: 228 million km / 142 million miles (1.52 AU)
Closest to Mars from Earth: 55 million km / 34 million miles

Jupiter:

Closest: 741 million km /460 million miles (4.95 AU)

Farthest: 817 million km / 508 million miles (5.46 AU)
Average: 779 million km / 484 million miles (5.20 AU)
Closest to Jupiter from Earth: 588 million km / 346 million miles

Saturn:

Closest: 1.35 billion km / 839 million miles (9.05 AU)

Farthest: 1.51 billion km / 938 million miles (10.12 AU)
Average: 1.43 billion km / 889 million miles (9.58 AU)
Closest to Saturn from Earth: 1.2 billion km /746 million miles

Uranus:

Closest: 2.75 billion km / 1.71 billion miles (18.4 AU)

Farthest: 3.00 billion km / 1.86 billion miles (20.1 AU)
Average: 2.88 billion km / 1.79 billion miles (19.2 AU)
Closest to Uranus from Earth: 2.57 billion km / 1.6 billion miles

Neptune:

Closest: 4.45 billion km /2.77 billion miles (29.8 AU)

Farthest: 4.55 billion km / 2.83 billion miles (30.4 AU)
Average: 4.50 billion km / 2.8 billion miles (30.1 AU)
Closest to Neptune from Earth: 4.3 billion km / 2.7 billion miles
Satellites:

A satellite is anything that orbits a planet or a star. Earth is a satellite

orbiting the Sun. The Moon is a satellite orbiting Earth. When a spacecraft
is launched into an orbit around a planet, say Earth, it can be considered a
satellite as well.

Our Earth has one natural satellite – the Moon. However, since October
1957 many thousands of artificial (human-made) satellites have been placed
in orbits around the Earth.

The center of the orbits directly depends on the masses of both objects since
F=Gm1m2/r where m1 and m2 are the masses of the objects. If both objects
have the same mass, then the planets orbit around each other without a
center. Objects of similar mass orbit each other with neither object at the
center, whilst small objects orbit around larger objects. Anyway, an average
artificial satellite’s mass (which is around 1,000-10,000 kgs) is nothing
when compared to the Earth’s mass (around 6 x 10 kgs)

Gravity Assists:
As we all know, a car tends to slow down when it goes up a mountain and
accelerates when it is going downhill. One can say that the car is getting a
'gravity assist' since the gravity of the Earth helps it to slow down or to
accelerate. In the same way, a spacecraft can get a free ride, without using
valuable fuel.

Gravity assists take place when a spacecraft flies past a planet or large
moon. This allows the planet’s gravity to pull on the spacecraft and change
its orbit.
Sometimes the spacecraft speeds up, and sometimes it slows down -
depending on whether it passes behind or in front of the planet. The gravity
assist also changes the direction in which the spacecraft travels.

One of the most amazing gravity assists was used for ESA’s Ulysses mission.
By passing over Jupiter’s north pole, Ulysses was slung into an orbit that
carried it over the Sun’s poles to stay in orbit.
Types of orbit:

Upon launch, a satellite or spacecraft is most often placed in one of several

particular orbits around Earth – or it might be sent on an interplanetary
journey, meaning that it does not orbit Earth anymore, but instead orbits
the Sun until it arrives at its final destination, like Mars or Jupiter. Many
factors decide which orbit would be best for a satellite to use, depending on
what the satellite is designed to achieve.

 Geostationary orbit (GEO)

 Low Earth orbit (LEO)

 Medium Earth orbit (MEO)

 Polar orbit and Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO)

 Transfer orbits and geostationary transfer orbits (GTO)

 Lagrange points (L-points)

We will be discussing about GEO, LEO, MEO and Lagrange points in detail.

Geostationary orbit (GEO)

Satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO) circle Earth above the equator from
west to east following Earth’s rotation – taking 23 hours 56 minutes and 4
seconds – by traveling at the same rate as Earth. This makes satellites in
GEO appear to be ‘stationary’ over a fixed position.

To perfectly match Earth’s rotation, the speed of GEO satellites should be

about 3 km per second at an altitude of 35,786 km. This is much farther
from Earth’s surface compared to many satellites. GEO is used by satellites
that need to stay constantly above one particular place over Earth, such as
telecommunication satellites.

This way, an antenna on Earth can be fixed to always stay pointed towards
that satellite without moving. It can also be used by weather monitoring
satellites because they can continually observe specific areas to see how
weather trends emerge there. Satellites in GEO cover a large range of Earth
so as few as three equally-spaced satellites can provide near-global coverage.
This is because when a satellite is this far from Earth, it can cover large
sections at once.

This is akin to being able to see more of a map from a meter away compared
with if you were a centimetre from it. So, to see all of Earth at once from
GEO far fewer satellites are needed than at a lower altitude. ESA’s European
Data Relay System (EDRS) program has placed satellites in GEO, where they
relay information to and from non-GEO satellites and other stations that are
otherwise unable to permanently transmit or receive data. This means
Europe can always stay connected and online.

Low Earth orbit (LEO)

A low Earth orbit (LEO) is, as the name suggests, an orbit that is relatively
close to Earth’s surface. It is normally at an altitude of less than 1000 km
but could be as low as 160 km above Earth – which is low compared to
other orbits but still very far above Earth’s surface. By comparison, most
commercial airplanes do not fly at altitudes much greater than
approximately 14 km, so even the lowest LEO is more than ten times higher
than that. Unlike satellites in GEO that must always orbit along Earth’s
equator, LEO satellites do not always have to follow a particular path
around Earth in the same way – their plane can be tilted.
This means there are more available routes for satellites in LEO, which is
one of the reasons why LEO is a very commonly used orbit. LEO’s proximity
to Earth makes it useful for several reasons. It is the orbit most commonly
used for satellite imaging, as being near the surface allows it to take images
of higher resolution. It is also the orbit used for the International Space
Station (ISS), as it is easier for astronauts to travel to and from it at a
shorter distance. Satellites in this orbit travel at a speed of around 7.8 km
per second; at this speed, a satellite takes approximately 90 minutes to
circle Earth, meaning the ISS travels around Earth about 16 times a day.
However, individual LEO satellites are less useful for tasks such as
telecommunication, because they move so fast across the sky and therefore
require a lot of effort to track from ground stations.

Medium Earth orbit (MEO):

Medium Earth orbit comprises a wide range of orbits anywhere between LEO
and GEO. It is similar to LEO in that it also does not need to take specific
paths around Earth, and it is used by a variety of satellites with many
different applications. It is very commonly used by navigation satellites, like
the European Galileo system (pictured).

Galileo powers navigation communications across Europe and is used for

many types of navigation, from tracking large jumbo jets to getting
directions to your smartphone. Galileo uses a constellation of multiple
satellites to provide coverage across large parts of the world all at once.

Lagrange Points (L-points):

For many spacecrafts being put in orbit, being too close to Earth can be
disruptive to their mission – even at more distant orbits such as GEO. For
example, for space-based observatories and telescopes whose mission is to
photograph deep, dark space, being next to Earth is hugely detrimental
because Earth naturally emits visible light and infrared radiation that will
prevent the telescope from detecting any faint lights like distant galaxies.

Photographing dark space with a telescope next to our glowing Earth would
be as hopeless as trying to take pictures of stars from Earth in broad
daylight. Lagrange points, or L-points, allow for orbits that are much, much
farther away (over a million kilometres) and do not orbit Earth directly.

These are specific points far out in space where the gravitational fields of
Earth and the Sun combine in such a way that spacecraft that orbit them
remain stable and can thus be ‘anchored’ relative to Earth. If a spacecraft
was launched to other points in space very distant from Earth, it would
naturally fall into an orbit around the Sun, and those spacecrafts would
soon end up far from Earth, making communication difficult. Instead,
spacecraft launched to these special L-points stay fixed, and remain close to
Earth with minimal effort without going into a different orbit.

The most used L-points are L1 and L2. These are both four times farther
away from Earth than the Moon – 1.5 million km, compared to GEO’s
36,000 km – but that is still only approximately 1% of the distance of Earth
from the Sun. Many ESA observational and science missions were, are, or
will enter an orbit about the L-points. For example, the solar telescope
SOHO and LISA Pathfinder at the Sun-Earth L1 point; Herschel, Planck,
Gaia, Euclid, Plato, Ariel, JWST, and the Athena telescope at the Sun-Earth
L2 point.
 CONCLUSION

In conclusion we can say that it possible to achieve orbits in satellites using

simple physical knowledge to use it practically to achieve what we thought
was impossible to achieve.

Although this project is an investigatory one its main objective is to show

that things like angular momentum, gravity, terminal velocity, Orbital
velocity and orbits itself give a very intriguing and thorough explanation to
this project.

As for the future outlook of this project we can enhance it by adding working
models and more reports for proving that satellites can maintain an orbit
without any external force.