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Hands-on Activity: The Great Gravity Escape 

Quick Look
Grade Level: 8 (6-8)
Time Required: 45 minutes
Expendable Cost/Group: US $1.00
Group Size: 4
Activity Dependency: None
Subject Areas: Earth and Space, Science and Technology

Summary
Students use water balloons and a length of string to understand how the force of gravity between two objects
and the velocity of a spacecraft can balance to form an orbit. They see that when the velocity becomes too great
for gravity to hold the spacecraft in orbit, the object escapes the orbit and travels further away from the planet.
This engineering curriculum meets Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Engineering Connection
Engineers and scientists make amazingly precise
calculations so that a spacecraft's journey is timed
exactly to reach the location where a planet will be at
that time. Since Earth and Mars are always orbiting in
their own paths, space travel from Earth to Mars might
be compared to shooting a basketball into a moving
hoop while standing on a moving platform. This
requires that engineers think logically and use their
math skills to forecast exactly where a planet will be
located many months in the future.
Students examine the force of gravity

Learning Objectives
After this activity, students should be able to:

Understand that an orbit is the balancing of object's velocity with the gravitational force.
Realize that as the velocity of an orbiting object increases, gravity has a harder time keeping the object
close.
Understand that engineers must design and build huge rockets to escape the Earth's gravity.
Understand that gravity is still acting on an object that is in orbit even though it is a weightless
environment.

Educational Standards
 NGSS: Next Generation Science Standards - Science
 Common Core State Standards - Math
 International Technology and Engineering Educators Association - Technology
 State Standards

Materials List
Each group needs:

1 water balloon
5 ft (1.5m) length of twine or string
1 clothes pin (the type with metal springs)
1 stop watch
Orbiting Water Balloons Worksheet

Worksheets and Attachments

Visit [www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_mars_lesson04_activity1] to print or

Introduction/Motivation
Gravity is an attractive force between two objects. All things that have mass are attracted to other things that
have mass. Do you think gravity is acting on an astronaut orbiting around the Earth? (Answer: Yes, Gravity is
present; but, you cannot see or feel it.) You might not think gravity is acting on astronauts because when we see
videos from space, everything is oating around. However, this does not mean gravity is not acting on the people
in a spaceship. There is still gravity, but in an orbit, the tendency of an object to move toward the center is
perfectly balanced by the spacecraft's tendency to continue in a straight line away from the planet.

What do you think would happen if a spacecraft orbiting the Earth kept speeding up? Would the spacecraft get
closer or further from Earth? (Answer: Further) As the velocity of the spacecraft speeds up, it wants to keep going
past and away from the Earth, which means gravity has a harder time keeping the spacecraft close and therefore
the spacecraft enters an orbit that is further from the Earth. If the spacecraft continues to speed up, it will
eventually be able to leave the Earth's orbit. This is exactly what happens when we send a spacecraft to another
planet, such as Mars. It takes a lot of energy to get enough velocity to "escape the Earth's gravity," however, once
a spacecraft has done this, it can coast to Mars and only have to re its rockets one more time to slow down as it
approaches Mars. In reality, the spacecraft has not actually escaped the Earth's gravity, but it has gotten far
enough away that it is not the largest gravitational force acting on our spacecraft any more. Do you know which
gravitational force becomes the largest force once a spacecraft has gotten far enough away from the Earth?
(Answer: The Sun's gravity takes over once the spacecraft has left the Earth's orbit.) Figure 1 illustrates the path of
a spacecraft traveling in an elliptical transfer orbit from Earth to Mars; it shows that the path from the Earth to
Mars is not a straight line since the spacecraft is actually orbiting around the Sun.

In today's activity, we will use water balloons to demonstrate how an orbit is the balance between gravity
and the velocity of the spacecraft. We will see that once an object is traveling fast enough, the orbiting
object can "escape" from the gravitational pull of the planet.
Figure
1. An

Procedure elliptical
transfer
orbit
Before the Activity from
Earth to
Cut one 5-foot length of twine for each group. Mars.

Thread one end of the twine through the metal spring on the clothes pin and tie a double knot in it so that
the clothes pin hangs from the end of the twine.
 Fill water balloons with ~100 grams of water, making the balloons about 2 inches in diameter. Fill two
balloons, or more, per group (one for the activity and one for a spare). Temporarily store balloons in a
plastic bucket.
Make enough copies of the Orbiting Water Balloons Worksheet, one per group.
Find a place outside where teams have at least 20 feet (6 m) clear in all directions around them. The more
space provided, the safer the activity. (Note: A football/practice eld or large lawn area works well.)

With the Students

1. Tell the students that today they will use water balloons to learn about orbits.
2. Explain to them that they will each represent a planet, and a water balloon — connected to a string that
they will use to swing the balloon around them — represents an orbit.

Remind them that they learned that an object that is moving wants to travel in a straight line. For an object to
turn, a force must act on it. The Earth's gravitational force is the acting force that turns the object, creating the
elliptical (curved) path of an orbiting object. To change the path of their water balloons, they must apply force to
the balloons. In this case, the tension in the string represents the gravity that keeps an object in orbit. See Figure
2 for a drawing of the experiment set-up.

3. Hold up one length of twine that already has the clothes pin attached. Demonstrate how to carefully
clip the balloon onto the clothespin.
4. Ask the students: What will happen if you begin spinning the balloon around yourself — faster and Figure
faster? (Answer: The clothes pin will eventually let go of the balloon.) Why does this happens? 2.
Activity
(Answer: As the balloon spins faster the clothes pin cannot apply the force necessary to keep the set-up.
balloon in orbit and it lets go. Once this happens, the balloon travels in a straight line, according to
Newton's rst law of motion.)
5. Pass out to each group a worksheet, stop watch and string with clothes pin attached.
6. Move students outside to a pre-selected space with adequate room for them to spread out and do the
activity.
7. Now give groups each one water- lled balloon and tell them to securely attach the ends of the balloons to
their clothes pins.
8. Have one group member stand in the middle of a designated open area while the remainder of the group
stands back at least 20 feet.
9. Have the students with the strings and balloons start swinging the balloons slowly around their bodies so
they are moving just fast enough to keep the balloons a few feet above the ground.
10. Have another student use the stop watch to time 10 seconds. While this person is timing, have the
remaining students count how many times the balloon goes around in those 10 seconds. Record this
number on the worksheets.
11. Have the students who are swinging the balloons speed up their balloons slightly.
12. Have the other students repeat counting the number of rotations in 10 seconds intervals.
13. Repeat steps 10 and 11 until the balloons come o the clothes pin.
14. Now have the students rotate roles, so that every student has a chance to be a planet with a balloon in
orbit.
15. Once all teams have nished, have them come back inside and calculate the escape velocities, using the
worksheets.
16. Conclude with a class discussion to compare calculations and results. Conduct the post-activity assessment
activity described in the Assessment section.

Assessment
Pre-Activity Assessment

Discussion Questions: Solicit, integrate and summarize student responses.

Sketch a planet (a circle) with a "spacecraft launcher" on top of it (a stick gure with a tube). Ask students to
sketch the path the spacecraft travels if it is: a) thrown from the tower like a glider; b) launched into the sky
 like a plane, but runs out of fuel near where planes y ~7 miles up; c) launched with enough velocity to
enter orbit around the Earth and y near the International Space Station; or d) launched with enough
velocity that it escapes an orbit around Earth and lands on Mars. [Answers: a) The spacecraft falls to the
ground; b) The spacecraft makes an arc, but crashes (or lands) back on Earth; c) The spacecraft enters orbit
around the Earth, and d) The spacecraft escapes an orbit around Earth, but still orbits around the Sun
(remember that all things that have mass have gravity between them).]
Is there gravity in space? (Answer: Since space is a weightless environment, it seems like there is no gravity,
but there actually is gravity in space! When a spaceship is in orbit, gravity and the velocity of the spaceship
are exactly balanced.)

Predictions: Ask students to predict how the planet and orbit will interact with eachother prior to starting the
activity.

Activity Embedded Assessment

Worksheet: Have student teams use the attached Orbiting Water Balloon Worksheet for instructions, recording
measurements and making calculations. Review their answers to gauge their mastery of the subject.

Post-Activity Assessment

Numbered Heads: Divide the class into teams of three to ve students each. Have students on each team
number o so each has a di erent number. Ask the students a question and give them a short time frame for
solving it (~1 minute). Have team members work together on the answer and make sure everyone on the team
knows it. Call a number at random. Students with that number should raise their hands to answer the question. If
not all students with that number raise their hands, give the teams time to work a little longer. Example
questions:

What is the force that pulls objects towards the center of the Earth? (Answer: Gravity)
Which of Newton's laws tells us that an object in motion tends to stay in motion and that the only way for
an object to slow down, speed up, or turn is if a force acts on the object? (Answer: Newton's rst law of
motion.)
True or False: There is no gravity in space. (Answer: False)
What happens as the spacecraft speeds up? (Answer: The spacecraft eventually overpowers the
gravitational pull of the Earth and leaves the Earth's orbit.)
An orbit is the balance between the velocity of the object and what force? (Answer: The planet's
gravitational force.)
As velocity decreases, the object gets closer/further from Earth? (Answer: Closer)
True or False: This activity's scenario also applies to the forces that exist between the Sun and planets.
(Answer: True, the attractive force of gravity between the Sun and a planet and the velocity of the planet
are both responsible for its orbit.)

Safety Issues
Make sure students stand a su cient distance away from the swinging water balloons and that they pay
attention to the other students as they perform the experiment.

To keep from getting dizzy, have students use lasso motions over their heads to swing their balloons, instead of
turning their entire bodies.

Troubleshooting Tips
Make sure the balloons are well secured by the clothes pins. This ensures that the balloons do not come
o the strings too early. If students cannot handle water balloons, nd another object that is soft, but also
weighs around 100 grams, such as a wi e- or sponge-type ball.
Keep one important detail in mind when comparing the string to the force of gravity on a spacecraft. In
space, the distance from the planet (diameter of orbit) would get larger as a spacecraft speeds up. (Ask the
class: Does the string get longer as you spin faster? Answer: No!) In this activity, the string does not get
longer as a water balloon is spun faster. The orbital escape velocity of the spacecraft, the velocity at which
 the gravity between the objects can no longer hold them together, is achieved when the clothespin
releases and the balloon ies o .

Activity Extensions
Have students weigh di erent balloons and see if they can nd a relationship between the mass of the balloon
and the escape velocity. The students should see that a heavier balloon releases at a lower velocity. (Note: To see
this result, the mass of the larger balloon must be signi cantly heavier — at least 50%.) In addition, how does
decreasing or increasing velocity change the e ect of gravity on an object? Teachers should stress to students
that only one variable should be changed during each iteration of the model and that students must document
how the variable has been changed. Students should be encouraged to predict the e ects of these changes prior
to implementing them.

References
Wertz, James R. and Larson, Wiley J. Space Mission Analysis and Design, Third Edition, Space Technology
Library, Volume 8, New York, NY: Publishing Company, 1999.

Contributors
Geo rey Hill; Daria Kotys-Schwartz; Chris Yakacki; Malinda Schaefer Zarske; Timothy M. Dittrich; Janet Yowell

Copyright
© 2004 by Regents of the University of Colorado.

Supporting Program
Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Acknowledgements
The contents of this digital library curriculum were developed under a grant from the Fund for the Improvement
of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education, and National Science Foundation GK-12 grant
no 0338326. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the Department of Education or
National Science Foundation, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.

Last modi ed: August 1, 2019

Free K-12 standards-aligned STEM curriculum for educators everywhere.