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Problem 5

This document describes the free fall motion of a body near the Earth's surface, taking into account the variation of gravitational acceleration with height. It presents the mathematical model using differential equations to describe the change in velocity and position over time. The model is solved computationally using Euler's method to analyze the motion for air above and below the Earth's surface.

Uploaded by

Dhruvesh Asnani
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
35 views

Problem 5

This document describes the free fall motion of a body near the Earth's surface, taking into account the variation of gravitational acceleration with height. It presents the mathematical model using differential equations to describe the change in velocity and position over time. The model is solved computationally using Euler's method to analyze the motion for air above and below the Earth's surface.

Uploaded by

Dhruvesh Asnani
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Problem 5

1 Problem Description:
Here, we will analyse the motion of a freely falling body neglecting fluid resistance and
buoyant force of the medium. But here we will consider the effect of variation of g with
height. We obtain solutions computationally using Euler’s method. We analyse the mo-
tion for air.

2 Assumptions:
1. Body is a point object
2. Motion is one-dimensional
3. No fluid resistance
4. No buoyant force due to the medium

3 Mathematical Model:
3.1 Differential Equations:
Let origin O be a point on the ground and the positive direction of Y − axis be perpendic-
ular to the ground surface. According to Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation,
GM
g= (1)
(R + y)2
where G is the universal constant of gravitation, M and R are the mass and radius of
Earth, respectively and y is the height of the body above the surface of the Earth. So,
acceleration is

dv GM
= −g = − (2)
dt (R + y)2
and
dy
=v (3)
dt

3.2 Difference Equations:


The corresponding difference equations are:
GM
vi+1 = vi − dt (4)
(R + yi )2
yi+1 = yi + vi dt (5)

1
3.3 Initial Conditions:
In free fall, since the object is initially at rest,

v0 = v(0) = 0

and the initial height is some positive value h0 . So,

h(0) = h0

3.4 Other Parameters:


1. M = 5.972 × 1024 kg

2. R = 6371km

3. G = 6.67 × 10−11 m3 kg −1 s−1

4. h0 = 20km

4 Analytical Solution:
Solving Eqn.(1) with initial condition v(0) = 0, we get

v = −gef f t (6)

where
4πr 3 ρg
gef f = g − (7)
3m
Solving Eqn.(2) with initial condition y(0) = h0 , we get

gef f t 2
y = h0 − (8)
2
According to the medium, corresponding value of ρ can be used.

5 Results:
Here are the plots we obtained:

6 Observations:
1.

2
Figure 1: Above the surface of Earth

Figure 2: In the mine

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