- #1
superlux1234
- 8
- 0
What would happen to the orbit of the moon if the Earth's mass were suddenly (magically!) to double? **Assume the orbit is initially circular
This is everything given in the question.
So, basically what I have come up with is using F=GMM/d^2 ... I have found that when the Earth's mass doubles, that the gravitational force also doubles. So at this point the moon will want to move closer to the earth, as the orbit will become... 3/4 of what it origionally was? When it does this, I was thinking that the moon will still have a large angular velocity (larger then is called for by its new orbit), so it will basically be sling-shot into an elliptical orbit maybe?
So... basically what I have decided so far is that the gravitational force doubles, and that brings the moon 1/4 closer to Earth ...
This is everything given in the question.
So, basically what I have come up with is using F=GMM/d^2 ... I have found that when the Earth's mass doubles, that the gravitational force also doubles. So at this point the moon will want to move closer to the earth, as the orbit will become... 3/4 of what it origionally was? When it does this, I was thinking that the moon will still have a large angular velocity (larger then is called for by its new orbit), so it will basically be sling-shot into an elliptical orbit maybe?
So... basically what I have decided so far is that the gravitational force doubles, and that brings the moon 1/4 closer to Earth ...