PHYS 130-Origin of Gravity and The Laws of Newton Lab Questions- GCCCD .
Name: Group Members: Date: Physics 130 Physics for Life Scientists Newton’s Laws and the Lunar Landing _______________________________________________________________________________ Introduction: I am delighted to report that this lab is basically a video game that also helps deepen your understanding of forces and kinematics. In this simulation, you will experience Newton’s Laws from the standpoint of operating a spacecraft in a frictionless environment. You will learn how to pilot a lunar Lander, also called a Lunar Excursion Module or Lunar Module (LEM, LM) and land that craft on the surface of the moon. However, just like Neil Armstrong in 1969, you will have a limited amount of fuel and time before you will have to find a safe place to land the LM or suffer the consequences. Objectives: ● To gain an understanding of objects in motion in a straight line will only change their path if a force is applied according to Newton’s 1st Law ● To understand the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration according to Newton’s 2nd Law. ● To learn the concepts of action/reaction forces according to Newton’s 3rd Law. ● To apply the kinematic equations to new situations. Procedure: You can access the lab on the lab page or here: https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/legacy/lunar-lander. Familiarize yourself with the controls of the LM. Take a few minutes and play around with the Lander to see how it operates. If you can land your craft in between tighter boulders, you can get a higher score. Try flying horizontally and see what happens. Try boosting the LM at full thrust vertically upward and see what happens. Turn on the vector display so that you will visualize the factors acting on your Lander. Note that you can pause the program at any time to collect data! 1 Newton’s Laws: 1. What do you have to do in order to get the LM to hover at a constant altitude? 2. Sketch a freebody diagram below for the LM hovering at a constant altitude. 3. Reset the simulation so that your LM has a full tank of fuel. Fire your engines for a short burst so that you gain some altitude. You should be at least 300m from the surface. a. Record an initial altitude for the LM and let it fall toward the surface without firing its engine. Notice the y-Velocity on the display monitor. Use this information and kinematics to calculate the acceleration due to the moon’s gravity. Record your solution with the data you collected below. b. Once you have calculated the moon’s acceleration due to gravity, find the maximum acceleration of the LM due to its engines. Explain your solution below and show the data you used and collected. c. Now with the data you collected and your answer to part (b), find the mass of the LM. Explain your solution below and show the data you used and collected. e. According to your findings from this simulation, what would the LM’s weight be on Earth? On the Moon? Part 2 – Projectile Motion 1. Use the value for the acceleration due to gravity on the moon for this part. Boost the LM to an altitude of ~300 m such that the y-Velocity will be zero at this point. (You may have to pause the simulation to get the sequence down.) Have the LM tilted 900 to the left or to the right so that if you fired the engines the resulting velocity would be along the x-axis. 2. Once at this altitude, and with the LM in the proper position, fire the engines for a short burst so that the LM gains a velocity of ~0.5 m/s (make sure you write down the exact velocity). 3. Predict where the LM will crash if you let it continue on its path to the surface of the moon. Does your prediction match the readout for the LM’s range on the display panel? (Note, you may have to maneuver your LM so that you have an initial x-position = 0m. Do this before you set the LM in position at the 300 m altitude. If this is too difficult, just note your initial x-position.) Find the % error between your prediction and the actual range.
