Satellites, Centripetal Force and Tangential Motion

A GCSE-level quiz relating to the Satellites section in the OCR Gateway Physics P5 module. It asks about the different types of orbit an artificial satellite can have around Earth, the orbital path of each type of satellite and how each satellite's distance from Earth affects its orbit.

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Gravity is the universal force of attraction between masses. How does the mass of an object affect its gravitational force of attraction?
The greater the mass of the object, the greater the gravitational force of attraction.
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Gravity provides something, without which objects such as planets would not orbit their stars and instead move away at a tangent. What is it that gravity provides that prevents this from happening?
Centripetal force
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When a satellite is orbiting the Earth, how does its distance from the Earth affect the speed of its orbit?
The closer to the Earth's surface a satellite is, the faster it travels. The further away from the Earth's surface a satellite is, the slower it travels.
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Satellites in low polar orbit pass over the poles and orbit the Earth 100-200km from its surface. How long is their orbital period?
90 minutes
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Geostationary satellites orbit the Earth above the equator. How far from the surface of the Earth do they orbit?
36,000km
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The particular height of the orbit of a geostationary satellite ensures that:
the satellite's orbital period is 24 hours long, so it appears stationary when observing from the Earth's surface
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The force between two objects increases as the distance between them decreases. This is an inverse square law. If the distance between two objects is enlarged by a scale factor of ten, what happens to the force between them?
It decreases to one hundredth of what it was originally
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Similarly to satellites orbiting Earth, the orbital period of a planet is longer the further away it is from the Sun. Why is this?
A weaker gravitational force of attraction is present between the planet and the Sun.
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A comet's orbit is:
elliptical
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As a comet nears the Sun, the speed at which it travels in its orbit increases. This is because:
as the comet nears the Sun, the gravitational force of attraction between the comet and the Sun is greater
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Due to the gravitational force of attraction between an artificial satellite and the Earth, the Earth's artificial satellites are:
constantly accelerating towards the Earth
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The forward motion preventing Earth's gravitational pull from making a satellite fall to its surface is called:
tangential motion
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How does the tangential motion of a satellite orbiting Earth affect its trajectory?
If the tangential motion of the satellite is too slow, it will fall to the Earth's surface. If the tangential motion of the satellite is too fast, it will travel away from Earth and into space.
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Satellites in low polar orbit are closer to the Earth's surface. This means that a higher gravitational force of attraction is present between the satellite and the Earth. Does this affect the tangential speed required to keep a satellite in orbit?
Yes, because the small distance between the Earth and the satellite produces a high centripetal acceleration. A high tangential speed is required.
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Geostationary satellites are further away from the Earth's surface. This means that a lower gravitational force of attraction is present between the satellite and the Earth. What kind of tangential speed is required to keep this satellite in orbit?
A low one because too high a tangential speed will cause the satellite to move away, into space.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Gravity provides something, without which objects such as planets would not orbit their stars and instead move away at a tangent. What is it that gravity provides that prevents this from happening?

Back

Centripetal force

Card 3

Front

When a satellite is orbiting the Earth, how does its distance from the Earth affect the speed of its orbit?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Satellites in low polar orbit pass over the poles and orbit the Earth 100-200km from its surface. How long is their orbital period?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Geostationary satellites orbit the Earth above the equator. How far from the surface of the Earth do they orbit?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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