IGCSE Physics CIE

Mr. Hakeem PEES

IGCSE Physics CIE
6.1 Earth & The Solar System
Contents
6.1.1 T he Earth, Moon & Sun
6.1.2 Calculating Orbital Speeds
6.1.3 T he Solar System
6.1.4 Orbiting Bodies
6.1.5 Gravitational Effects on Orbits
6.1.1 The Earth, Moon & Sun

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6.1.1 The Earth, Moon & Sun

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6.1.1 The Earth, Moon & Sun
• The Earth's Orbit: The Earth orbits the Sun once in approximately 365 days . This is 1 year
• The combination of the orbiting of the Earth around the Sun and the Earth's tilt creates the seasons.

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 6.1.1 The Earth, Moon & Sun
• Over parts B, C and D of the orbit, the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun
• This means daylight hours are more than hours of darkness
• This is spring and summer
• The southern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun
• This means there are shorter days than night
• This is autumn and winter
• Over parts F, G and H of the orbit, the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun
• The situations in both the northern and southern hemisphere are reversed
• It is autumn and winter in the northern hemisphere, but at the same time it is spring and summer in the southern
hemisphere
• At C:
• This is the summer solstice
• The northern hemisphere has the longest day, whilst the southern hemisphere has its shortest day
• At G:
• This is the winter solstice
• The northern hemisphere has its shortest day, whilst the southern hemisphere has its longest day
• At A and D:
• Night and day are equal in both hemispheres
• These are the equinoxes

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6.1.1 The Earth, Moon & Sun

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 6.1.1 The Earth, Moon & Sun
Phases of the Moon
• The way the Moon's appearance changes across a month, as
seen from Earth, is called its periodic cycle of phases
• In the image, the inner circle shows that exactly half of the
Moon is illuminated by the Sun at all times
• The outer circle shows how the Moon looks like from the
Earth at its various positions
• In the New Moon phase:
• The Moon is between the Earth and the Sun
• Therefore, the sunlight is only on the opposite face of
the Moon to the Earth
• This means the Moon is unlit as seen from Earth, so it is not visible
• At the Full Moon phase:
• The Earth is between the Moon and the Sun
• The side of the Moon that is facing the Earth is completely lit by the sunlight
• This means the Moon is fully lit as seen from Earth
• In between, a crescent can be seen where the Moon is partially illuminated from sunlight
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6.1.2 Calculating Orbital Speeds

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6.1.2 Calculating Orbital Speeds
Worked example
The Hubble Space Telescope moves in a circular orbit. Its distance above the Earth’s surface is
560 km and the radius of the Earth is 6400 km. It completes one orbit in 96 minutes.
• Step 1: List the known quantities
Radius of the Earth, R = 6400 km
Distance of the telescope above the Earth's surface, h = 560 km
Time period, T = 96 minutes
• Step 2: Write the relevant equation
v =2πr / T
• Step 3: Calculate the orbital radius, r
The orbital radius is the distance from the centre of the Earth to the telescope
r = R + h r = 6400 + 560 = 6960 km
• Step 4: Convert any units
The time period needs to be in seconds, 1 minute = 60 seconds , 96 minutes = 60 × 96 = 5760 s
The radius needs to be in metres, 1 km = 1000 m, 6960 km = 6 960 000 m
• Step 5: Substitute values into the orbital speed equation
v =2π × 6 960 000 / 5760 = 7592.18 = 7590 m/s
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 My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Noodles
6.1.3 The Solar System Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

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6.1.3 The Solar System
The Solar System consists of:
1. The Sun
2. Eight planets
3. Natural and artificial satellites
4. Dwarf planets
5. Asteroids and comets
• The 8 planets in our Solar System in ascending order
The Sun & the Planets of the distance from the Sun are:
• The Sun lies at the centre of the Solar System
1. Mercury
• The Sun is a star that makes up over 99% of the mass
2. Venus
of the solar system 3. Earth
• There are eight planets and an unknown number of
4. Mars
dwarf planets which orbit the Sun 5. Jupiter
• The gravitational field around planets is strong enough
6. Saturn
to have pulled in all nearby objects with the exception 7. Uranus
of natural satellites 8. Neptune
• The gravitational field around a dwarf planet is not
9. Satellites
strong enough to have pulled in nearby objects
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6.1.3 The Solar System
There are two types of satellite:
1. Natural
2. Artificial
• Some planets have moons which orbit them
• Moons are an example of natural satellites
• Artificial satellites are man-made and can orbit any object in space
• The International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth and is an example of an artificial satellite
Asteroids & Comets
• Asteroids and comets also orbit the sun
• An asteroid is a small rocky object which orbits the Sun
• The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter
• Comets are made of dust and ice and orbit the Sun in a different orbit to those of planets
• The ice melts when the comet approaches the Sun and forms the comet’s tail

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6.1.3 The Solar System
Accretion Model of the Solar System
• There are 4 rocky and small planets:
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars
• These are the nearest to the Sun
• There are 4 gaseous and large planets:
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
• There are the furthest from the sun

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 Accretion Model of the Solar System
• The differences in the types of planets are defined by the accretion model for Solar System formation
• The Sun was thought to have formed when gravitational attraction pulled together clouds of hydrogen dust
and gas (called nebulae)
• The Solar System then formed around 4.5 billion years ago
• The planets were formed from the remnants of the disc cloud of matter left over from the nebula that
formed the Sun
• These interstellar clouds of gas and dust included many elements that were created during the final stages of
a star's lifecycle (a previous supernova)
• Gravity collapsed the matter from the nebula in on itself causing it to spin around the Sun
• The gravitational attraction between all the small particles caused them to join together and grow in an
accretion process
• A rotating accretion disc is formed when the planets emerged
• As the Sun grew in size it became hotter
• Where the inner planets were forming near the Sun, the temperature was too high for molecules such as
Hydrogen, Helium, water and Methane to exist in a solid state
• Therefore, the inner planets are made of materials with high melting temperatures such as metals (e.g. iron)
• Only 1% of the original nebula is composed of heavy elements, so the inner, rocky planets could not grow
much and stayed as a small size, solid and rocky
• The cooler regions were further away from the Sun, and temperature was low enough for the light molecules
to exist in a solid state
• The outer planets therefore could grow to a large size up and include even the lightest element, Hydrogen
• These planets are large, gaseous and cold

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6.1.4 Orbiting Bodies

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6.1.4 Orbiting Bodies

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6.1.4 Orbiting Bodies

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6.1.4 Orbiting Bodies

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6.1.5 Gravitational Effects on Orbits

Gravitational Field Strength

• The strength of gravity on different planets affects an object's weight on
that planet
• Weight is defined as: The force acting on an object due to gravitational
attraction
• Planets have strong gravitational fields.
• Hence, they attract nearby masses with a strong gravitational force
• Because of weight:
• Objects stay firmly on the ground
• Objects will always fall to the ground
• Satellites are kept in orbit

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6.1.5 Gravitational Effects on Orbits

Gravitational Field Strength

• Both the weight of any body and the value of the gravitational field strength g differs between the surface of the
Earth and the surface of other bodies in space, including the Moon because of the planet or moon's mass
• The greater the mass of the planet then the greater its gravitational field strength
• A higher gravitational field strength means a larger attractive force towards the centre of that
• planet or moon g varies with the distance from a planet, but on the surface of the planet, it is roughly the same
• The strength of the field around the planet decreases as the distance from the planet increases
• However, the value of g on the surface varies dramatically for different planets and moons
• The gravitational field strength (g) on the Earth is approximately 10 N/kg
• The gravitational field strength on the surface of the Moon is less than on the Earth
• This means it would be easier to lift a mass on the surface of the Moon than on the Earth
• The gravitational field strength on the surface of the gas giants (eg. Jupiter and Saturn) is more than on the Earth
• This means it would be harder to lift a mass on the gas giants than on the Earth
• On such planets such as Jupiter, an object’s mass remains the same at all points in space
• However, their weight will be a lot greater meaning for example, a human will be unable to fully stand up
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 6.1.5 Gravitational Effects on Orbits
Gravitational Attraction of the Sun
• There are many orbiting objects in our solar system and they each orbit a
different type of planetary body
• A smaller body or object will orbit a larger body For example, a planet orbiting
the Sun
• In order to orbit a body such as a star or a planet, there has to be a force pulling
the object towards that body
• Gravity provides this force
• Therefore, it is said that the force that keeps a planet in orbit around the Sun is
the gravitational attraction of the Sun
• The gravitational force exerted by the larger body on the orbiting object is
always attractive
• Therefore, the gravitational force always acts towards the centre of the larger
body
• Therefore, the force that keeps an object in orbit around the Sun is the
gravitational attraction of the Sun and is always directed from the orbiting
object to the centre of the Sun
• The gravitational force will cause the body to move and maintain in a circular
path

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6.1.5 Gravitational Effects on Orbits
Sun's Gravitational Field & Distance
• As the distance from the Sun increases:
• The strength of the Sun's gravitational field on the planet decreases
• Their orbital speed of the planet decreases
• To keep an object in a circular path, it must have a centripetal force
• For planets orbiting the Sun, this force is gravity
• Therefore, the strength of the Sun's gravitational field in the planet affects how
much centripetal force is on the planet
• This strength decreases the further away the planet is from the Sun, and the
weaker the centripetal force
• The centripetal force is proportional to the orbital speed
• Therefore, the planets further away from the Sun have a smaller orbital speed
• This also equates to a longer orbital duration
• How the speed of a planet is affected by its distance from the Sun
• This can be seen from data collected for a planet's orbital distance against their
orbital speed E.g. Neptune travels much slower than Mercury

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6.1.5 Gravitational Effects on Orbits

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 6.1.5 Gravitational Effects on Orbits
Orbits & Conservation of Energy
• An object in an elliptical orbit around the Sun travels at a different
speed depending on its
• distance from the Sun
• Although these orbits are not circular, they are still stable
• For a stable orbit, the radius must change if the comet's orbital
speed changes
• As the comet approaches the Sun:
• The radius of the orbit decreases
• The orbital speed increases due to the Sun's strong gravitational pull
• As the comet travels further away from the Sun:
• The radius of the orbit increases
• The orbital speed decreases due to a weaker gravitational pull from
the Sun

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6.1.5 Gravitational Effects on Orbits
Conservation of Energy
• Although an object in an elliptical orbit, such as a comet, continually changes its speed its energy must still be
conserved
• Throughout the orbit, the gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy of the comet changes
• As the comet approaches the Sun:
• It loses gravitational potential energy and gains kinetic energy
• This causes the comet to speed up
• This increase in speed causes a slingshot effect, and the body will be flung back out into space again, having
passed around the Sun
• As the comet moves away from the Sun:
• It gains gravitational potential energy and loses kinetic energy
• This causes it to slow down
• Eventually, it falls back towards the Sun once more
• In this way, a stable orbit is formed

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The End