Acceleration in an Elliptical Orbit

In summary, being on an orbital satellite in an elliptical orbit around Earth would not cause you to feel acceleration or weight due to the gravitational pull of the planet. This is because you would still be weightless even with air pressure and moving with the orbit at the same speed. Even if the orbit were to speed up, you would not feel any acceleration as you and the object are in free fall and being accelerated at the same rate. However, there may be some slight effects due to tidal forces and the mass of the object, but these are minimal compared to the normal weight experienced on Earth.
  • #1
Geoff Pollock
3
0
So let's say you are on an orbital satellite in an elliptical orbit around our planet Earth, meaning that the at one point in the orbit you are going faster, due to the gravitational pull of the planet. Would you feel the acceleration in space due to the shape of the orbit?
 
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  • #2
No, you would still be weightless.
 
  • #3
Borg said:
No, you would still be weightless.
Even with the air pressure?
 
  • #4
Borg said:
No, you would still be weightless.
Because you are moving with the orbital in the orbit, that would mean you are going the same speed as it? So if it were to go faster, wouldn't you be going faster with it, in hand would you feel acceleration?
 
  • #5
If an object is in free fall and you are moving in the same way (inside or near it), then you too are in free fall and weightless. From an external point of view, you may be accelerating (and even for a circular orbit, you are accelerating perpendicularly to the direction of the orbit), but since the object and the person are being accelerated by the same amount, they will not notice the acceleration.

(To be really accurate, for a large object you can get tidal effects due to the fact that gravity can vary slightly between the highest and lowest point, and you can also get tiny effects due to the mass of the object itself, but these are negligible compared with normal weight).
 

1. What is acceleration in an elliptical orbit?

Acceleration in an elliptical orbit refers to the rate of change of the velocity of an object as it moves along an elliptical path around another object. This acceleration is caused by the combined effects of gravity and the object's inertia.

2. How does acceleration change in an elliptical orbit?

The acceleration in an elliptical orbit is not constant, but rather varies depending on the distance of the object from the center of mass of the other object. As the object gets closer to the center of mass, the acceleration increases, and as it moves further away, the acceleration decreases.

3. What factors affect acceleration in an elliptical orbit?

The main factors that affect acceleration in an elliptical orbit are the masses of the two objects involved, the distance between them, and the shape and size of the elliptical orbit. The greater the mass of the objects and the closer they are to each other, the stronger the acceleration will be.

4. How does acceleration in an elliptical orbit relate to Kepler's laws?

Kepler's laws of planetary motion describe the motion of objects in elliptical orbits. The second law states that a line connecting a planet to the sun will sweep out equal areas in equal times, which means that the speed of the object will change as it moves along its orbit. This change in speed is caused by the acceleration in the elliptical orbit.

5. How is acceleration in an elliptical orbit calculated?

Acceleration in an elliptical orbit can be calculated using Newton's second law of motion, which states that the acceleration of an object is equal to the net force acting on it divided by its mass. In an elliptical orbit, the net force is the gravitational force between the two objects, and the mass is the mass of the smaller object. Therefore, the acceleration can be calculated by dividing the gravitational force by the mass of the smaller object.

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