Newton's cannonball
Information about Newton's cannonball
Newton's cannonball was a thought experiment Isaac Newton used to hypothesize that the force of gravity was universal, and it was the key force for planetary motion.
In this experiment Newton visualizes a cannon on top of a very high mountain.
If there were no force of gravitation the cannonball should follow a straight line away from Earth.
So long as there is a gravitational force acting on the cannon ball, it will follow different paths depending on its initial velocity.
The experiment
)
In this experiment Newton visualizes a cannon on top of a very high mountain.
If there were no force of gravitation the cannonball should follow a straight line away from Earth.
So long as there is a gravitational force acting on the cannon ball, it will follow different paths depending on its initial velocity.
- If the speed is low, it will simply fall back on Earth. (A and B)
- If the speed equals some threshold orbital velocity it will go on circling around the Earth along a fixed circular orbit just like the moon. (C)
- If the speed is higher than the orbital velocity, but not high enough to leave Earth altogether (lower than the escape velocity) it will continue rotating around Earth along an elliptical orbit. (D)
- If the speed is very high, it will indeed leave Earth. (E)
External links
A thought experiment (from the German term Gedankenexperiment, coined by Hans Christian Ørsted) in the broadest sense is the use of a hypothetical scenario to help us understand the way things actually are. There are many different kinds of thought experiments.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Sir Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton at 46 in
Godfrey Kneller's 1689 portrait
Born 4 January 1643 [OS: 25 December 1642]
..... Click the link for more information.
Isaac Newton at 46 in
Godfrey Kneller's 1689 portrait
Born 4 January 1643 [OS: 25 December 1642]
..... Click the link for more information.
Gravitation is a natural phenomenon by which all objects with mass attract each other. In everyday life, gravitation is most familiar as the agency that endows objects with weight.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
ORBit is a CORBA compliant Object Request Broker (ORB). The current version is called ORBit2 and is compliant with CORBA version 2.4. It is developed under the GPL license and is used as middleware for the GNOME project.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001. Their greatest hit, their debut single "time after time", peaked at #13 in the Oricon singles chart.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
The orbital speed of a body, generally a planet, a natural satellite, an artificial satellite, or a multiple star, is the speed at which it orbits around the barycenter of a system, usually around a more massive body.
..... Click the link for more information.
..... Click the link for more information.
Moon
The Moon as seen by an observer on Earth
Orbital characteristics
Periapsis: 363,104 km
0.0024 AU
Apoapsis: 405,696 km
0.0027 AU
Semi-major axis: 384,399 km
0.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Moon as seen by an observer on Earth
Orbital characteristics
Periapsis: 363,104 km
0.0024 AU
Apoapsis: 405,696 km
0.0027 AU
Semi-major axis: 384,399 km
0.
..... Click the link for more information.
escape velocity is the speed where the kinetic energy of an object is equal in magnitude to its potential energy in a gravitational field.
It is commonly described as the speed needed to "break free" from a gravitational field; however, this is not true for objects under
..... Click the link for more information.
It is commonly described as the speed needed to "break free" from a gravitational field; however, this is not true for objects under
..... Click the link for more information.
This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.