[time-nuts] Pendulums & Atomic Clocks & Garvity
David Dameron
ddameron at earthlink.net
Wed May 30 06:11:59 UTC 2007
Hi Didier and all,
This is because the gravitational force is perpendicular to the velocity
(at least for a circular orbit), so the result is a change only in the
direction of the velocity, not the magnitude. For an elliptical orbit, the
satellite speeds up and slows down when the gravity force has a
non-perpendicular component.
This is the same thing that happens with the (v x B) magnetic force on a
moving charged particle.
-Dave D.
>Now, there is something else I would be missing under your scenario.
When an object is subjected to acceleration, it gains speed. The product
of force by speed is stored in the object in the form of kinetic energy.
If the satellite is constantly being subjected to unbalanced forces and
falls, it should be accelerating and accumulating energy, yet it does
not. 10 years later, a satellite has no more kinetic energy than when it
was launched (if all goes well...) Actually, satellites that are in
elliptical orbits trade kinetic energy for potential energy, just like
the old L-C network constantly trades electrostatic energy for magnetic
energy. But the sum remains constant, except for friction on imperfect
vacuum of space.
So what is it that prevents the satellite that is constantly subjected
to unbalanced forces to not gain speed and energy?
More information about the Time-nuts_lists.febo.com
mailing list