 |
             
  
|
|
Liftoff to Learning: Newton in Space
|
Video Title: Newton
In Space
Video Length: 12:37
Videos may be viewed using free RealPlayer
Click on the highlighted title to see the video using RealPlayer
Subjects: Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion as they apply to
spaceflight.
Description:
This program shows how Newton's Three Laws of Motion are applied
to spaceflight.
Mathematics Standards:
Measurement
|
|
Science Standards:
Physical Science
- Position and motion of object
Unifying Concepts and Processes
-Change, constancy, and measurement
Science and Technology
- Abilities of technological design
- Understanding about science and technology
Science Process Skills:
Observing
Measuring
Collecting Data
Investigating
|
Table of Contents
Background
To understand how space travel is possible requires an understanding of
the concept of mass and Isaac Newton's Three Laws of Motion.
Mass is the quantity of matter contained in an object. It is measured
by the resistance (inertia) of that quantity of matter to a change in
motion. In other words, the more mass an object has, the more force is
needed to move it. This principle is demonstrated by pushing a stalled
compact car on a level road and then by pushing a stalled full-size car
on a level road. The compact car will move much more easily because it
has less mass.
Mass doesn't change with location. The mass of an object on the surface
of Earth is the same as it is in a microgravity environment. Weight, on
the other hand, can change with location. Weight is the net gravitational
force of attraction acting on the mass of an object. An astronaut walking
on the Moon weighs one-sixth as much as on Earth because the net gravitational
force on Earth is six times greater.
One of the misconceptions many people have about rockets is that they
need an atmosphere to push against in order to work. Many years ago, Robert
Goddard, the inventor of the liquid propellant rocket engine, was soundly
criticized by a newspaper editorial writer because the writer shared this
misconception.
- That Professor Goddard with his "chair" in Clark College
and the countenancing of the Smithsonian Institution does not know the
relation of action to reaction, and of the need to have something better
than a vacuum against which to react--to say that would be absurd. Of
course he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high
schools...
New York Times editorial, 1921.
The author of the editorial clearly did not understand the concept of
mass or Newton's Laws. A rocket does have something substantial to react
against--- the matter it is expelling.
| A rocket, in its simplest form, is a chamber enclosing
a gas under pressure. A small opening at one end of the chamber allows
the gas to escape, and, in so doing, provides a thrust that propels
the rocket in the opposite direction. A good example of this is a
balloon. Air inside a balloon is compressed by the balloon's rubber
walls. The air pushes back so that the inward and outward forces are
balanced. When the nozzle is released, air escapes and the forces
become unbalanced. The action of the escaping gas propels the balloon
in a rocket flight. The balloon's flight is highly erratic because
it has no structures, such as fins, to stabilize it.When we think
of rockets, we rarely think of balloons. Instead, our attention is
drawn to the giant vehicles that carry satellites into orbit and spacecraft
to the Moon and planets. |
 |
Nevertheless, the basic principles of force, mass, and acceleration are
the same. The one significant difference is the way the pressurized gas
is produced. With space rockets, the gas is produced by burning propellants
that can be solid or liquid in form or a combination of the two.
One of the interesting facts about the historical development of rockets
is that while rockets and rocket-powered devices have been in use for more
than two thousand years, it has been only in the last 300 years that rocket
experimenters have had a scientific basis for understanding how they work.
The science of rocketry began with the publishing of a book in 1687 by the
great English scientist Sir Isaac Newton. His book, entitled Philosophiae
Naturalis Principia Mathematica, described physical principles in nature.
Today, Newton's work is usually just called the Principia. In the
Principia, Newton stated three important scientific principles that
govern the motion of all objects. Knowing these principles, now called Newton's
Laws of Motion, rocketeers have been able to construct modem giant rockets
such as the Saturn V and those that launch the Space Shuttle into orbit.
Here now, in simple form, are Newton's Laws of Motion.
|
1.
2.
3.
|
Objects at rest will stay at rest, and
objects in motion will stay in motion in a straight line unless acted
upon by an unbalanced force.
Force is equal to mass multiplied by acceleration.
For every action there is always an opposite and equal reaction. |
As will be explained shortly, all three laws are really simple statements
of how things move. With them, we can make precise determinations of rocket
performance.
This law of motion is a basic statement of fact, but to know what it means
it is necessary to understand the terms rest, motion and unbalanced
force.
|
Rest and motion can be thought of as being opposite to each other.
Rest is the state of an object when it is not changing position
in relation to its surroundings. If you are sitting still in a chair,
you can be said to be at rest. This term, however, is relative.
Your chair may actually be one of many seats on a speeding airplane.
The important thing to remember here is that you are not moving
in relation to your immediate surroundings. If rest were
defined as a total absence of motion, it would not exist in nature.
Even if you were sitting in your chair at home, you would still
be moving because your chair is actually sitting on the surface
of a spinning planet that is orbiting a star, and the star is moving
through a rotating galaxy that is, itself, moving through the universe.
While sitting "still," you are, in fact, traveling at
a speed of hundreds of kilometers per second!
|
 |
Motion is also a relative term. All matter in the universe is moving all
the time, but in the first law, motion means changing position in relation
to immediate surroundings. A ball is at rest if it is sitting on the ground.
The ball is in motion if it is because then it is changing its position
in relation to its surroundings. When you are sitting on a chair in an airplane,
you are at rest; if you get up and walk down the aisle, you are in motion.
A rocket blasting off the launch pad changes from a state of rest to a state
of motion.
The third term important to understanding this law is unbalanced force.
If you hold a ball in your hand and keep it still, the ball is at rest.
All the time the ball is held there though, it is being acted upon by forces.
The force of gravity is trying to pull the ball downward while, at the same
time, your hand is pushing against the ball to hold it up. The forces acting
on the ball are balanced. Let the ball go, or move your hand upward, and
the forces become unbalanced. The ball then changes from a state of rest
to a state of motion.
In rocket flight, forces become balanced and unbalanced all the time. A
rocket on the launch pad is balanced. The surface of the pad pushes the
rocket up while gravity tries to pull it down. As the engines are ignited,
the thrust from the rocket unbalances the forces, and the rocket travels
upward. Later, when the rocket runs out of fuel, it slows down, stops at
the highest point of its flight, then falls back to the Earth.
Objects in space also react to forces. A spacecraft moving through the solar
system is in constant motion. The spacecraft will travel in a straight line
if the forces on it are in balance. This happens only when the spacecraft
is very far from any large gravity source such as Earth or the other planets
and their moons. If the spacecraft comes near a large body in space, the
gravity of that body will unbalance the forces and curve the path of the
spacecraft. This happens, in particular, when a spacecraft is sent by a
rocket on a path that is parallel to the Earth's surface. If the rocket
shoots the spacecraft fast enough, the spacecraft will orbit the Earth.
As long as an unbalanced force (atmospheric friction or the firing of a
rocket engine in the opposite direction from its movement) does not stop
the spacecraft, it will orbit the Earth forever.
Now that the three major terms of this first law have been explained, it
is possible to restate this law. If an object, such as a rocket, is at rest,
it takes an unbalanced force to make it move. If the object is already moving,
it takes an unbalanced force to stop it or to change its direction or speed.
For the time being, we will skip the second law and go directly to the
third. This law states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
If you have ever stepped off a small boat that has not been properly tied
to a pier, you will know exactly what this law means.
| A rocket can liftoff from a launch pad only when it
expels gas out of its engine. The rocket pushes on the gas, and the
gas, in turn, pushes on the rocket. The whole process is very similar
to riding a skateboard. Imagine that a skateboard and rider are in
a state of rest (not moving). The rider pushes off the skateboard.
In the third law, the stepping off is called an action. The
skateboard responds to that action by traveling some distance in the
opposite direction. The skateboard's motion is called a reaction.
When the distance traveled by the rider and the skateboard are
compared, it would appear that the skateboard has had a much
greater reaction than the action of the rider. This is not the case.
The reason the skateboard has traveled farther is that it has less
mass than the rider. |
 |
With rockets, the action is the expulsion of gas out of the engine. The
reaction is the movement of the rocket in the opposite direction. To enable
a rocket to lift off from the launch pad, the action, or thrust, from the
engine must be greater than the weight of the rocket. In the microgravity
environment of Earth orbit, however, even tiny thrusts will cause the rocket
to change direction.
One of the most commonly asked questions about rockets is how they can work
in space where there is no air for them to push against. The answer to this
question comes from the third law. Imagine the skateboard again. On the
ground, the only part air plays in the motions of the rider and the skateboard
is to slow them down. Moving through the air causes friction, or as scientists
call it, drag. The surrounding air impedes the action-reaction.
Rockets actually work better in space than they do in air. As the exhaust
gas leaves the rocket engine, it must push away the surrounding air; this
uses up some of the energy of the rocket. In space, the exhaust gases can
escape freely.
This law of motion is a mathematical equation that helps to explain the
Third Law. The three parts of the equation are mass (m), acceleration (a),
and force (F). Using letters to symbolize each part, the equation can be
written as follows:
F = ma
The equation reads: force equals mass times acceleration.
Force is the "action and reaction" in Newton's Third Law of
Motion. We will use a gun as an example of how the second law works. When
the gun is fired, an explosion propels a bullet out of the open end of
the barrel, and the person firing the gun feels a "kick." This
is action and reaction at work. The force acting on the bullet and on
the gun is the same. What happens to the bullet and the gun is determined
by the Second Law of Motion. Look at the two equations below.
F = m(bullet)a(bullet)
F = m(gun)a(gun)
The first equation relates to the bullet and the second to the
gun. In the first equation, the mass is the bullet and the acceleration
is the bullet's movement. In the second equation, the mass is the gun
and the acceleration is the kick. Since the force is the same for the
two equations, the equations can be rewritten below.
m(bullet)a(bullet) = m(gun)a(gun)
In order to keep the two sides of the equation equal, the accelerations
vary with the mass. The bullet has a small mass; therefore, its acceleration
is great. The gun has a larger mass; thus, its acceleration is smaller.
Let's apply this principle to a rocket. Replace the mass of the bullet
with the mass of the gases being ejected out the rocket engine. Replace
the mass of the gun with the mass of the rocket moving in the other direction.
Force is pressure created by the controlled explosion taking place inside
the rocket's engines that accelerates gas in one direction and the rocket
in the other.
Something interesting happens with rockets that doesn't happen with the
gun in our example. The mass of a rocket is the sum of its parts. Its
parts includes rocket engines, propellant tanks, payload, control system,
and propellants. By far, the largest part of the rocket's mass is its
propellants. The interesting part here is that the amount of propellant
changes as the engines fire. It decreases until consumed. That means that
the rocket's mass is not constant. It gets smaller. In order for the left
side of our equation to remain in balance with the right, acceleration
has to increase. This is why a rocket starts off moving slowly, but moves
faster and faster as it climbs to space.
Putting Newton's Laws of Motion Together: An unbalanced force must be
exerted for a rocket to liftoff from a launch pad or for a craft in space
to change speed or direction (first law). The movement (acceleration)
of a rocket is determined by the relationship between the force produced
by the rocket engine and the masses of the rocket itself and the gases
being ejected by the engine (second law). The reaction, or motion, of
the rocket is equal to and in an opposite direction from the action, produced
by the gases ejected from the engine (third law).
Acceleration - A change in speed.
Action/Reaction - An unbalanced force exerted in one direction
accompanied by an equal force in the opposite direction.
Force - A push or a pull.
Mass - The quantity of matter in a material object. (More precisely,
the amount of inertia of a material object.)
Microgravity - An environment, produced by free-fall, that
alters the local effects of gravity man makes objects seem weightless.
Motion - A condition in which an object is moving in relation
to its surroundings.
Rest - A condition in which an object is not moving in relation
to its surroundings.
Unbalanced Force - A net push or pull in one direction.
Weight - The force of gravity upon the mass of an object. |
The following hands-on activities demonstrate some of the concepts presented
in this videotape.
Soda Pop Can Engine
Materials:
Empty soda pop can with the opener lever intact
Nail or ice pick
Fishing line or string
Container of water
Instructions:
Demonstrate Newton's third law of motion by constructing a falling-water
version of a Hero engine (steam-powered device that spun when steam
escaped from L-shaped jets). Lay the can on its side and, using the
nail or ice pick, carefully punch four equally spaced small holes
just above and around the bottom rim. Then, before removing the punching
tool from each hole, push the tool to the right (parallel to the rim)
so that the hole is slanted in that direction. Tie a short length
of fishing line to the can and immerse the can in water until it is
filled. Pull the can out by the fishing line. Water streams will start
the can spinning because of the action-reaction principle. |
 |
Rocket Car
|
Materials:
4 straight pins
Styrofoam meat tray
Cellophane tape
Flexi-straw
Scissors
Drawing compass
Marker pen
Small balloon
Ruler
Instructions:
Construct a simple balloon- powered car to demonstrate Newton's
third law of motion. Cut out a rectangle 7.5 by 18 cm in size and
four circles 7.5 cm in diameter from the flat surface of a styrofoam
meat tray. Push one pin into the center of each circle and then
into the edge of the rectangle as shown in the picture. The pins
become axles for the wheels.
|
 |
Insert the straw into the balloon and seal the balloon's nozzle with tape
to the straw.
Mount the balloon to the car as shown. Inflate the balloon and release to
see the car propelled along a flat surface by action/reaction.
Newton Car
Materials:
1 Wooden block about 10x20x2.5 cm
1 Wooden block about 7.5x5x2.5 cm
3 3-inch No. 10 wood screws (round head)
12 Round pencils or short lengths of dowels
3 Rubber bands
Cotton string (several feet)
Matches
6 Lead fishing sinkers (about 14 g or 1/2 ounce each)
Drill and bit
Vise
Screwdriver |
 |
Instructions: Demonstrate Newton's laws of motion by propelling wood
blocks with a "slingshot" launcher. Use short dowel rods as rollers.
Set up the car as in the diagram by placing a string loop over a rubber
band and then place the ends of the rubber band over the two screws. Pull
the rubber band back like a slingshot and slip the string over the third
screw to hold the rubber band taut. Light a match and ignite the ends of
the string hanging down from the loop. When the string burns through, the
rubber band will throw the block off the car and the car will roll in the
other direction. Note how far the car travels along the table top. Repeat
the activity by using different numbers of rubber bands. As another set
of variables, insert lead sinkers into the holes in the block. In this activity,
the acceleration of both the block and the car will vary with the mass of
the block and with the number of rubber bands used.
The following books will provide additional information.
Lampton, C., Rocketry: From Goddard to Space Travel, Franklin Watts,
1988.
Maurer, R., The Nova Space Explorer's Guide: Where to Go and What to
See, revised ea., Crown, 1991.
Shearer, D., Vogt, G., Rockets - A Teacher's Guide with Activities in
Science. Mathematics. and Technology, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, 1996.
STS-39 Crew Biographies
Commander: Michael L. Coats (Capt., USN).
Pilot: L.
Blaine Hammond, Jr. (Lt. Col., USAF).
Mission Specialist: Gregory J. Harbaugh.
Mission Specialist: Donald R. McMonagle
(Lt. Col., USA).
Mission Specialist: Gulon S. Bluford (Col., USA).
Mission Specialist: C. Lacy Veach.
Mission Specialist: Richard J. Hieb
To obtain biographic information, click on highlighted names
|
|
