GRAVITATION MULTIPLE CHOICE 1.

ALL EXCEPT ONE of the following are correct statements about a satellite in orbit around the earth. Which one is the exception? A. One focus of its elliptical orbit is at the center of the earth. B. Its orbit lies in a plane that includes the center of the earth. C. A line drawn from the center of the earth to the satellite sweeps out the same area between March 14th (Einstein's Birthday) and March 17th (St. Patrick's Day) as it does between December 25th (Newton's birthday) and December 28th. D. The satellite has its greatest speed when it is closest to the earth. E. The net force acting on the satellite is zero.

2. Three satellites are in circular orbits about the earth as shown at the right. The orbit of satellite #1 has a radius R. Satellites #2 & #3 are in identical orbits of radius 2R. The masses of the satellites are M, 2M, and 3M, respectively. If F1, F2, and F3 are the magnitudes of the forces on each satellite due to the gravitational pull of the earth, which of the following correctly describes the relationship between these forces? A. F1 > F2 > F3 B. F1 > F3 > F2 C. F1 = F2 < F3 D. F3 = F1 > F2 E. F3 < F2 = F1

3. Consider two thin walled concentric spherical shells of radii a and b and mass Ma and Mb as shown. If a mass m is placed at the point P where P is a distance r from the center of the shells, the gravitational force on m due to both shells will be given by
GM bm r
2

A.

B.
GM m

G(M a + M b )m 2 r

C.

GM bm b
2

b a D. (r b)2 (r a)2

GM m

E. none of these

4. A spaceship of mass m is in freefall toward a planet of mass M. As it moves from a distance R to r as measured from the center of the planet, the increase in its kinetic energy is equal to

A.

GMm r

B.

GMm 2 r

C.

GMm(R r) R
2

D.

GMm(R r) Rr

E. None of these.

GRAVITATION Questions 5 through 7 relate to the following information and diagram. Two small satellites of equal mass are orbiting a planet. Satellite X moves in a circular orbit of radius R with a speed Vx. Satellite Y is in an elliptical orbit such that its orbit is tangent to that of satellite X at point p and its farthest distance from the planet is at point q. The speed of Y at point p is
3 2

(VX ) .

5. What is the ratio of the period of Y to the period of X? (Recall that the mean radius of an elliptical orbit equals the length of the semi-major axis). A. 1: 2 B. 2:1 C. 1:2 2 D. 2 2 :1 E. None of these. 6. What is the ratio of the angular momentum of Y at point q to its angular momentum at point n? A. 3:1 B. 9:1 C. 1:3 D. 1:9 E. None of these. 7. Suppose a rocket aboard satellite X is fired when it is at point p thereby increasing its kinetic energy just enough to cause its orbit to become parabolic. For X to assume this parabolic orbit, the rocket must increase its kinetic energy at p by a factor of A. 2 B. 1.5 C. 2 D. 2.5 E. None of these.