Description
The force with which the Earth pulls on satellites, gravity, depends on the mass of both the Earth and the satellite and the distance between them.
You can imagine this force as a kind of ‘funnel’ in space. The closer the satellite comes to the Earth, the stronger the gravity pulls. However, the satellite does not ‘fall’ onto the Earth because the satellite has a certain speed. This speed is precisely such that the satellite remains in a certain orbit around the Earth in space.
In this exhibit, you can see the orbit that a satellite makes, depending on its speed and the distance to the Earth and the moon – which also exerts gravity on the satellite.
Gravity plays an important role in satellites. We depend on these satellites for our positioning using GPS, but also for, for example, 5G signals for making calls and mobile internet.
Because we will need more and more satellites in the future to meet our growing communication needs, research and knowledge about the operation of gravity and how it affects the orbits of satellites are of great importance.
Why does a satellite keep orbiting the Earth?
- Using the lever, shoot a ball into the exhibit.
- See which trajectory the ball follows.
