Earth’s orbital velocity

Numerous unsuccessful measurements were made to determine the motion of earth in the ether. These measurements were not able to give results compatible within the framework of classical Newtonian mechanics, even though that the earth has an orbital velocity v0 30,000 m/s (where v0 is velocity of the earth to the ether). In 1887 Michelson and Morley also determined the earth s orbital velocity by their precision interferometer [11], The updated arrangement of Michelson-Morley experiment (M-M experiment) can be seen in Fig. 1. 

Figure 1. An up-to-date arrangement the of Michelson-Morley experiment. Here LASER means the source of light, BS means beamsplitter, Ml and M2 are mirrors on the end of arms, PD is the phase detector (interferometer), and v is the earth s orbital velocity, which is regarded as the inertial motion for short time periods.

In 1881 the American physicist Albert Michelson and in 1887 with Edward Morley carried out some experiments showing that the speed of light is the same in the directions perpendicular and parallel to the Earth s orbit, i.e. the Earth s orbital velocity did not change the speed of light with respect to the Earth. The results were published in American Journal... 

Because of the incredible precision of interferometric techniques, this measured velocity is altogether one percent of the earth s circumference velocity derived from the orbital motion. Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI)— which is an exhaustively improved Pogany experiment—can detect Ago 10-9 in the earth s rotation. 

Of course, the Sagnac-type experiments were not made in a perfect inertial systems. The earth s orbital motion around the sun is also a noninertial system. But the circumference velocities in both cases are extremely low, v/c[Pg.398]

Figure 16.10. Sketch illustrating the directions of the Sun s and the Earth s motions during a year. As the Sun moves in the Galaxy (here at 232 km/s, 60° out of the plane of the Earth s orbit), the Earth moves around the Sun (here at 30 km/s). The vectorial sum of their velocities gives the velocity of the Earth with respect to the Galaxy. Assuming the WIMPs to be on average at rest in the Galaxy, it follows that the average speed of the WIMPs relative to the Earth is modulated with a period of 1 year.

Meteors form when meteoroids enter the atmosphere. The mean orbital velocity of the Earth around the Sun is 29.7 kms-1, so a particle stationary in space will enter the Earth s atmosphere at this velocity. Gravity will further attract the particles up to a maximum of 11 kms-1 (the escape velocity) to make an entry velocity of order 40 kms-1 plus whatever additional velocity the particle may possess. This energy is converted into heat by the drag on the atmosphere, producing temperatures of order 2000 K - the glow seen from a shooting star. The final temperature depends on the properties of the particle, the atmospheric composition and the angle of incidence with the atmosphere. 

Consider a space based radar (SBR) at height H above the earth on a great circular orbit that is inclined at an angle rji (with respect to the equator). By virtue of earth s gravity the SBR is moving with velocity... 

The velocity of the earth in its orbit around the sun is about 10 4c. If this would also turn out to be the velocity with respect to a stationary ether, and massive photons would move at the velocity v = c(sina) in the same ether, then the velocity of photons recorded at the earth s surface would become... 

PROBLEM 2.4.1. Given that the average earth-moon distance is Rem = 3.844 x 108 m and that the moon s revolution around the earth is 27.3 days (from which its tangential orbital velocity is vm = 1.0186 x 103 m s 1), compute the mass of the earth. 

The equation of time is the difference of right ascension between the average and apparent sun, and caused by the fact that the movement of the sun in a day shifts east and west since the revolution angular velocity of the earth is different by season due to the elliptical orbit and the declination of the earth s axis from the celestial equator by 23° 27. ... 

Satelhte orbits are classified as high and low orbits, polar orbits (when the orbital plane contains the spin axis of the earth), equatorial orbits (orbital plane coincides with the eqnatorial plane of the earth), and pro-grade and retro-grade or bits (the direction of sateUite motion is either eastward or westward). The lower the orbit is, the faster the satelhte circles the earth. At an altitnde of about 36,000 km, the orbital velocity matches that of the earth s... 

The motions of two bodies connected by an attractive force can also include rotation. In the simplest case (for example, rotation of the Earth around the Sun) one of the two bodies is much more massive than the other, and the heavier body hardly moves. The attractive force causes an acceleration through Newton s Second Law, but this does not necessarily imply that the speed changes—for a perfectly circular orbit the speed is constant. Velocity is a vector quantity, and so a change in direction is an acceleration as well. 

The energies of macroscopic objects, as well as those of microscopic objects, are quantized, but the effects of the quantization are not seen because the difference in energy between adjacent states is so small. Apply Bohr s quantization of angular momentum to the revolution of Earth (mass 6.0 X 10 " kg), which moves with a velocity of 3.0 X 10" m s in a circular orbit (radius 1.5 X 10 m) about the sun. The sun can be treated as fixed. Calculate the value of the quantum number n for the present state of the Earth-sun system. What would be the effect of an increase in by 1 ... 

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