Apollo 13 Movie Physics Essay - 1035 Words

Apollo 13 Essay Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fly in space or work on the crew at NASA that helps the astronauts get home safely? These two jobs both use many of the laws of physics. In fact, almost everything they do involves physics. Apollo 13 is a movie that epitomizes what those jobs are like and how much physics is required. The three main laws of physics in the movie were Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation, Newton’s First Law, and Newton’s Third Law. One main law in Apollo 13 was Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation, defined as F=Gm1m2r2, where G=6.67Ãâ€"10-11. The first main scene in which this law was needed was when NASA decided that it would be best for the crew to take a free-return trajectory back to†¦show more content†¦Another prevalent physics law in Apollo 13 was Newton’s First Law, which states that a body will persist in its state of rest or of uniform motion unless it is acted upon by an external u nbalanced force. In most scenes of Apollo 13 that show the spacecraft in space this law was visually demonstrated. The Apollo 13 spacecraft was always in uniform motion unless it was acted on by another external unbalanced force. The most significant force in space that would act on the spacecraft was that of gravity. Gravity from other large masses, such as the Earth, Moon, and Sun, acted as the external unbalanced force which changed the spacecraft’s speed and direction. If all the gravity in space were to suddenly disappear and the net force on the spacecraft were to be zero then the Apollo 13 ship would simply adhere to its uniform motion tangent to its original path. Another group of scenes in which Newton’s First was displayed was when the astronauts moved around in their spacecraft while in space. It is quite easy to tell from watching how the astronauts moved around in 0g that they were exhibiting Newton’s First Law. If an astronaut in the movie applied a force in one direction to move in the other that astronaut would then move at a constant velocity (in relation to the ship) as soon as that force was removed. On the contrary, if no force were applied,Show MoreRelatedA Form Of Geometric Art Invented By The Famous Dutch Artist2670 Words   |  11 Pagesstart of the industrial era (Misa, pg. 251). The technologies produced by the military such as computer chips, nuclear power, artificial intelligence, Internet, etc. gave the world a kick-start in the field of modern technology (Misa, pg. 251). The Apollo Missions between the years 1969 and 1972 were possible only due to the military derived rockets; even the space shuttles missions were successful due to the satellites positioned by the military (Misa, pg. 251). Highly advanced technological companiesRead MoreProject Managment Case Studies214937 Words   |  860 Pages2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-471-75167-0 (pbk.) ISBN-10: 0-471-751 67-7 (pbk.) 1. Project management-Case studies. I. Title. Printed in the United States of America Contents Preface xi 1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGIES 1 Lakes Automotive 3 Fems Healthcare, Inc. Clark Faucet Company 2 5 7 11 IMPLEMENTATION OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT Kombs Engineering 13 Williams Machine Tool Company 15 Wynn Computer Equipment (WCE) 17 The