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Jupiter Mass Physics Lab

The document describes a physics lab to determine the mass of Jupiter using data on the orbits of its moons Europa and Callisto. Students will use a computer program to record observations of the moons' distances from Jupiter's center over multiple days. From these data, they will calculate the orbital periods and radii to then use Newton's law of universal gravitation to find Jupiter's mass. Newton's law profoundly impacted science by providing a physical explanation for planetary motion through mathematics.

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46 views

Jupiter Mass Physics Lab

The document describes a physics lab to determine the mass of Jupiter using data on the orbits of its moons Europa and Callisto. Students will use a computer program to record observations of the moons' distances from Jupiter's center over multiple days. From these data, they will calculate the orbital periods and radii to then use Newton's law of universal gravitation to find Jupiter's mass. Newton's law profoundly impacted science by providing a physical explanation for planetary motion through mathematics.

Uploaded by

killertbone
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

 

                                               Danny Chong & Nick Bridges

IB Physics 1, Dr. Theodore, 2011

The Revolution of the Moons of Jupiter Physics Lab

Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to use empirical data of the motion of Jupiter’s moons in
order to determine the mass of Jupiter itself. Based on the concepts of gravitation that we have
studied, we can relate the period and radius of orbit of Jupiter’s moons of Jupiter’s mass. Our
“observations” will come from a computer program designed to simulate the orbit of Jupiter’s
moons at any point in time.

Statement of question:

               What is the mass of Jupiter using the period and radius of orbit of Jupiter’s moons.

Variables:

                Dependent – The amount of days.

                Independent – The Moon’s of Jupiter.

Hypothesis:

                If in day’s time increases, the further orbit there will be then as more day’s pass by, the
distance will start to slowly decrease to its original starting point of when the data was
collected as.

Procedure:

1.    Open the Physics Programs folder on the desktop and open CLEA.  Log in with group
members’ names.  The login info is actually not at all important…

2.    Choose an observation start date of someone’s birthday.


3.    Use a suitable magnification level to allow viewing the 2 largest moons of Jupiter
(Europa and Callisto).  Take multiple observations of two moons of Jupiter (Europa and
Callisto) with one day between observations.  The total number of observations will be
decided by YOU, the astronomer.  It is possible to take additional data once you have
begun graphing if you notice that you need more points.

4.    Record your results in your Logger Pro or Excel with suitable data tables.  Note that
you are interested in the observation day, time, and the moons’ distances as measured
in “Jupiter” diameters” from the center of the planet.  This value would most likely look
something like “x= 2.55 W (Jup. Diam.)”.   Note that graphing programs cannot graph
text, so put W and E in a separate column from the number.

5.     When your observations are complete, create a scatter plot of position vs. time.  

6.    From your plots, compute the period (T) of revolution and the (average) orbital radius
(R) for the two moons of Jupiter you observed.  Note that you may or may not need to
take more observations based on the quality of your data.  The CLEA software provides
you with a distance in multiples of Jupiter diameters.  Hence x=1.45 W means that the
moon in question is 1.45 Jupiter Diameters distant from the center of Jupiter.  The W
refers to the moon being to the west or east of the planet from the observer’s
perspective.  Note that Excel or Graphical Analysis will not understand “E” and “W,” so
you will need to find a different way to distinguish between the two directions.  You are
looking at the moons of Jupiter much like Galileo would have seen them.  (Note: Thanks
to some very good geometry and algebra you know that the diameter of Jupiter is equal
to 140000 km.)

7.     Calculate the mass of Jupiter.  (Hint: The period (T) and average distance for any
Jupiter satellite will provide you sufficient information to do this.)

8.     Discuss the profound impact that Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation had on the
scientific world in the mid 1600’s.  You will need to do some additional research in order
to correctly situation Newton and this law in the history of science and our
understanding of planetary motion.
8.  Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation impacted the scientific world in the mid 1600’s by it
becoming one of the fundamental key components in the development of Physics Theory. It
brought a physical explanation of the patterns in planetary motion.  More specifically, he
improved Aristotle’s idea of gravitational force between two objects and the force that keeps
the planets in orbit by providing a mathematical equation (F= GmM/r^2& G=6.67
x10^11 Nm^2 /kg^2).

http://www.bookrags.com/research/newtons-law-of-universal-gravitatio-wop/

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