Circular Motion and Satellite Motion Tutorial
This tutorial revolves around circular motion and explains how gravity accounts for the roughly circular orbits of planets and moons. There are four sections: "Motion Characteristics for Circular Motion," "Applications of Circular Motion," "Universal Gravitation," and "Planetary and Satellite Motion." Each tutorial page includes illustrations and questions to check for student understanding. Student extras and a teacher's guide provide links to other resources for further investigation of the topics. All of the major ideas of linear motion are revisited with their circular motion analogs. Speed, acceleration, force, and energy are explained and calculated. These ideas are applied to satellite orbits through Newton's law of universal gravitation.
