Calculate Centripetal Acceleration of an Orbiting Object

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guv

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Calculate Centripetal Acceleration of an Orbiting Object
« on: August 28, 2014, 07:19:05 PM »
I know some of the more stubborn of the flat earther's deny this so we should get a good debate about mass.

In physics, you can apply Newton’s first and second laws to calculate the centripetal acceleration of an orbiting object. Newton’s first law says that when there are no net forces, an object in motion will continue to move uniformly in a straight line. For an object to move in a circle, a force has to cause the change in direction — this force is called the centripetal force. Centripetal force is always directed toward the center of the circle.

The centripetal acceleration is proportional to the centripetal force (obeying Newton’s second law). This is the component of the object’s acceleration in the radial direction (directed toward the center of the circle), and it’s the rate of change in the object’s velocity as the object moves in a circle; the centripetal force does not change the magnitude of the velocity, only the direction.

You can connect angular quantities, such as angular velocity, to centripetal acceleration. Centripetal acceleration is given by the following equation:

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Blacksmith

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Re: Calculate Centripetal Acceleration of an Orbiting Object
« Reply #1 on: August 28, 2014, 09:11:24 PM »
A: The image bbcode isn't right  :(
B: They will just say that it isn't orbiting therefore invalid.
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ausGeoff

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Re: Calculate Centripetal Acceleration of an Orbiting Object
« Reply #2 on: August 31, 2014, 05:48:07 AM »

This diagram illustrates centripetal acceleration:





M can represent the earth and m can represent the moon.  The earth's gravitational force is equal to the centripetal force, which is equal and opposite to the centrifugal force on the moon.