Why must the centre of the satellite orbit coincide with the centre of the Earth?
I'm such a science noob, please help >_<
The center of the satellite's orbit must coincide with the center of the Earth due to the force of gravity. Gravity is a force that attracts objects towards each other, and its strength is directly proportional to the mass of the objects and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
In the case of a satellite orbiting the Earth, the satellite and the Earth are the two objects in question. The force of gravity between them determines the shape and stability of the satellite's orbit. The Earth's mass is much greater than the satellite's mass and is located at its center.
For a satellite to maintain a stable orbit, it must continuously fall towards the Earth due to gravity while also moving forward fast enough to keep missing it. This results in a curved path around the Earth, forming an orbit.
If the center of the satellite's orbit does not coincide with the center of the Earth, the gravitational force acting on the satellite would be imbalanced. This would cause the satellite to either crash into the Earth or drift away into space, as the gravitational forces would not be properly counteracted by the satellite's velocity.
Therefore, to maintain a stable orbit, the center of the satellite's orbit must always coincide with the center of the Earth to ensure that the gravitational forces are balanced, allowing the satellite to continue orbiting the Earth without colliding or drifting away.
No worries! I'll explain it to you.
In order to understand why the center of a satellite's orbit must coincide with the center of the Earth, let's first define a few terms.
An orbit is the path that an object takes around another object due to the force of gravity. In the case of a satellite, it orbits around the Earth.
Now, let's consider the force of gravity. Gravity is the force that attracts objects towards each other. In the case of the Earth and the satellite, gravity is what keeps the satellite in orbit.
The center of mass is the point in an object where the mass of the object can be considered to be concentrated. In the case of the Earth, the center of mass is at its core, the center of the Earth itself.
Now, if the center of the satellite's orbit did not coincide with the center of the Earth, it would mean that the satellite would not be directly above the center of mass of the Earth. In other words, the gravitational force acting on the satellite would not be balanced in all directions.
This imbalance of forces would cause the satellite to be pulled towards the denser or more massive part of the Earth. Over time, it would result in the satellite moving away from its intended orbital path and potentially crashing into the Earth or being thrown off into space.
Therefore, to maintain a stable orbit, the center of the satellite's orbit must coincide with the center of the Earth, ensuring that the gravitational forces acting on the satellite are balanced and it can continue to orbit the Earth without any major deviations.