Satellites Lab

TITLE:  Satellites in Orbit Lab

I.  GUIDING QUESTION: How does the mass as well as the distance from earth impact how a satellite stays in orbit?

II.HYPOTHESIS:

Adrian’s Hypothesis:
I think that the heavier the satellite, as well as the further from earth it is, (the longer the string is) the more inertia the satellite has and the longer it will stay in orbit.

Exploration (PLAN & DO A TEST):
         Materials:

1. 3x String or Fishing Wire (one that is 40 cm, one that is 80cm, and one that is 140cm)
2. Metal Rings
3. Ruler
4. Notebook

Variables:
Manipulated:

• Mass of satellite
• Distance of satellite from gravity source

Constant:

• Force of gravity

Adrian’s and Rafa’s Procedure:

1. Tape together the amount of metal rings you are testing (1, 2, 3 or 4).
2. Then securely tie the bundle of metal rings to the string length that you are testing. (40, 80, or 140) You have now made a pendulum.
3. Swing the pendulum above your head at a constant rate.
4. Observe in a data table how well the pendulum swings at different strengths.

Maria’s Procedure:

1. Take the fishing line and loop it through the holes of the four metal.
2. Securely tie the string.
3. Slowly start swinging the pendulum, raising it up above your head.
4. Write down your observations, changing the mass of the pendulum (1-4 metal rings) and the length of the string (40cm- 80cm-120cm-160cm )

Observations

	1 weight	2 Weights	3 Weights	4 Weights
40 cm string	It was light, easy to spin fast, if it were a planet it wouldn’t have much gravity. It hung down slightly, which wouldn’t have happened with more weights.	Much harder to swing, would have more gravity as  a planet. Was basically level as it swung.	Was actually easier to swing because inertia kept it in motion	Maria’s arm started to swing, slightly harder to swing than 3 weights but easier than 2 weights.
80 cm string	Actually quite easy to swing. Observed that the longer the string and the smaller the mass, the easier it is to swing	Heavier, you can feel the slight weightiness.	“It’s heavy.” It wants to fly away. “Like the two ring, but heavier.”	“Ow! It hurts!” Very powerful inertia. If you tried changing directions, it would take longer.
140 cm string	Takes less power to swing. Feels really light.Extreme inertia, cannot switch directions.	Very resistant to change, has a lot of energy	Very very powerful.	Takes a lot of power to swing. Tilts more.

Adrian’s Data Analysis
In this lab, the amount of rings being tested represented the mass of the satellite, and the length of the string represented how far from Earth the satellite is. (I felt that I didn’t make that clear enough, which could have led to some misunderstandings.) I think that our data clearly shows that the heavier the weight is, the more inertia it has and the longer it would stay in orbit if it were a satellite. However, the length of the string had an even bigger effect on the inertia and longer string gave the weights, or “satellite” much more inertia. it relied on Our data mostly showed accuracy, but it relied on written observations rather than measurements. Because observations are subjective, the results could vary from person to person, which creates some inaccuracy.

Adrian’s Conclusion:
My guiding question was “How does the mass as well as the distance from earth impact how a satellite stays in orbit?” I concluded that the longer the  distance of the satellite from earth and the larger the mass of the satellite was, the more inertia it has and the longer it could stay in orbit. That is pretty much what I hypothesized, so my hypothesis is correct.


Adrian’s Further Inquiry:
The validity of our data was not so great this lab because all of our data was simply observations rather than measurements. That means that if someone else tried to replicate this lab, they would probably have a different-looking data table with different comments. However, the data was accurate enough for me to find clear patterns and determine the meaning from our results. If I were to do this lab again, I would be more scientific in swinging the pendulum at exactly the same speed in each test, and I would find some way to measure the results in addition to the comments.