Topics Overview: orbital motion, gravitational fields, rocket thrust (mass flow as a rate of change of momentum), energy and momentum in collisions and explosions (all students); angular momentum, gravitational potential and potential energy functions, equipotential surfaces and gravitational field as a potential gradient, escape speed (HL only).
Detailed list of IB syllabus understandings and related guiding questions
Suggested Future Physics Contexts: missions to The Moon and Mars (and beyond), Starship and the rocket equation, separation and docking of spacecraft, space junk, physics of spacewalks, conservation of angular momentum of star and planetary systems (HL), controlling spacecraft spin (HL).
Skills in the study of physics to be explicitly taught: use computer modelling.
Possible labs/activities to facilitate development of skills: using Algodoo to simulate orbital motion and gravitational fields, PhET Gravity Force Lab simulation, iterative spreadsheet solution of the rocket equation.
HL: further orbital simulations (for example involving orbital energy and atmospheric drag) in Algodoo.
Linking questions that can be answered during this unit:
How is uniform circular motion like - and unlike - real-life orbits?
Physics utilises a number of constants such as G. What is the purpose of these constants and how are they determined?
Why is the equation for the change in gravitational potential energy only relevant close to the surface of the Earth, and what happens when moving further away from the surface?
How does a gravitational force allow for orbital motion?
How does the motion of an object change within a gravitational field?
How are the laws of conservation and equations of motion in the context of rotational motion analogous to those governing linear motion? (HL)
How is the amount of fuel required to launch rockets into space determined by considering energy? (HL)
How can air resistance be used to alter the motion of a satellite orbiting Earth? (HL)