Serc: Projectile and Satellite Orbits

Start to finish, the first satellite was an 84-day project. Follow the process in a video lesson presentation from the SciShow Space series. The narrator explains the decision-making process and structure of the satellite as well as the...

An analysis of launched objects helps scholars understand general relativity in greater detail. These aren't just any launched objects, though! A video presentation describes the gravitation potential energy of satellites in orbit and...

When will we need to know Einstein's Theory of Relativity in real life? Every single time you use a cell phone, GPS, or watch satellite TV. When a satellite is sent into space without accounting for relativity, problems immediately arise...

Young scholars examine the orbits of the more than 1,400 satellites that orbit Earth and visualize the application of Kepler's laws. They observe patterns of orbital periods and velocity as a function of distance from Earth to facilitate...

Identifying forces or force components acting as the centripetal force for a car driving in a horizontal circle, a car driving in a vertical circle, and a satellite in orbit.

Students explore how a satellite's motion is governed by the same physics principles and described by the same mathematical equations.

Students learn how to transform a series of GOES images into an animation, and how to create a storm track from that animation. By synthesizing information from the track and other sources, students determine storm speed and direction.

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center shows how integral satellites are to everyday life and describes the different types, including orbital and geostationary.

This simulation of a satellite's elliptical motion around a central body allows students to alter the eccentricity of the orbit while learning about velocity and force vectors.

Students explore orbits of planets and satellites. Some topics examined in the activities are planetary motion, angular momentum of orbits, and Kepler's laws. The resource consists of video clips, lecture notes, practice problems, and...