Question

The International Space Station (ISS) orbits Earth about 400 km above the surface of Earth (NASA.gov). Using the concepts of circular motion and gravitational forces learned in this module, explain the following in your own words:

Why does the space station not fall down?
Why do the astronauts float inside the space station?

@Abhisar

Answer 1

so i hv to use Concepts of circular motion ryt ?

Answer 2

yes which are what again?

Answer 3

actually u'll be surprised to know the answers !

Answer 4

Basically the ISS is constantly falling towards the earth

Answer 5

but it never reaches the ground because it is moving in a circular path which provides it a centripetal force

Answer 6

ok?

Answer 7

i know u got nothing !!

Answer 8

dont worry !

Answer 9

m i ryt ?

Answer 10

let me go get my coffee

Answer 11

you are right i'me majorly confused

Answer 12

no it's complicated..!!

Answer 13

I.m gonna type a huge explanation now..so be prepared !

Answer 14

ok

Answer 15

Suppose you throw a rockvertically downwards, it will fall vertically. Now suppose u throw out that rock horizontally, it will still fall, but it will keep moving out horizontally as it does so, and falls at an angle. (The angle isn't constant - the shape is a curve called a parabola, but that's relatively unimportant here.) The the force is straight down, but that force doesn't stop the rock from moving horizontally.

If you throw the rock harder, it goes further, and falls at a shallower angle. The force on it from gravity is the same, but the original velocity was much bigger and so the deflection is less.

Now imagine throwing the rock so hard it travels one kilometer horizontally before it hits the ground. If you do that, something slightly new happens. The rock still falls, but it has to fall more than just 100m before it hits the ground. The reason is that the Earth is curved, and so as the rock traveled out that kilometer, the Earth was actually curving away underneath of it. In one kilometer, it turns out the Earth curves away by about 10 centimeters - a small difference, but a real one.

As you throw the rock even harder than that, the curving away of the Earth underneath becomes more significant. If you could throw the rock 10 kilometers, the Earth would now curve away by 10 meters, and for a 100 km throw the Earth curves away by an entire kilometer. Now the stone has to fall a very long way down compared to the 100m cliff it was dropped from.

Answer 16

after reading see this diagram
http://prntscr.com/3udcmr

Answer 17

ok i get it

Answer 18

What it shows is that if you could throw the rock hard enough, the Earth would curve away from underneath the rock so much that the rock actually never gets any closer to the ground. It goes all the way around in the circle and might hit you in the back of the head!
:D

Answer 19

LOL

Answer 20

Now for ur answer u can simply write that ISS is in a circular motion which provides it a centnrifugal force. This force nullifies the gravitational force of earth. Hence the ISS never falls

Answer 21

ANS 2)
Since the net force on the ISS is zero, astronauts float inside ISS

Answer 22

ok.

Answer 23

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