Physics 1135

Lecture 16: Gravitational potential energy and space travel

Objectives: In this lecture, students will learn to

• derive a potential energy for the force of universal gravitation
• graph the potential energy and use it to interpret motion with different total mechanical energy
• apply the concept of energy conservation to space travel problems
• explain the escape condition and derive an expression for the escape speed
• derive an expression for the total mechanical energy of a satellite in orbit

Lecture Notes:

Lecture Videos:

Homework assignment:

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