What will be the velocity /time graph of an artificial satellite orbiting around earth?

Answer 1

The magnitude of the velocity is not changing so the graph will be a straight line parallel to time axis. Only the direction changes and we are not concerned with directional changes in a graph. But yes in reality the orbit is not circular it is in fact elliptical and as pointed out correctly the magnitude also changes then, but graphing it will be complicated as you have to consider all orbital elements in doing so.

Answer 2

It will be a straight line if the orbit is circular or a periodic up-down curve if the orbit is elliptic.

Explanation:
Velocity is a "vector" quantity which refers to the rate at which an object changes its position. So, velocity is speed with direction.
The motion of an orbiting satellite can be described by the same motion characteristics as any object in circular motion. The velocity of the satellite would be directed tangent to the orbit at every point along its path. The acceleration of the satellite would be directed roughly towards the center of the body around which it is rotating, in this case the earth. To keep the satellite in its orbit, at any two points in its orbit v1*v1/r1 = v2*v2/r2; where v1 and v2 are the velocities at points on the orbit where the radius are r1 and r2 respectively.
So, for a circular orbit, the speed of the satellite must be constant, since r1 = r1 and v1 = v2. But if the orbit is elliptical where r1 is not equal to r2, then the speed is not constant and v1 is not equal to v2.

Answer 3

I assume by "velocity" you're talking about the speed (not the velocity vector), as I can't figure out how you'd draw a graph of a changing vector vs. time.

If you're lucky enough to have a circular orbit (which is usually NOT the case), then the satellite's speed is constant. This means the graph would be a straight horizontal line, at a height "Vo" above the x-axis. The value of Vo is sqrt(GM/r), where G=universal gravitational constant; M=earth's mass; r=satellite's distance from earth's center.

If the orbit is elliptical, the graph is a continuous wavy line, sort of like a sine curve (but not a sine curve!) The height of the "crest" of the wave (i.e., the maximum velocity) is this

V_max = sqrt(2GMRa/(Rp(Ra+Rp)))

And the height of the "trough" of the wave is this:

V_min = sqrt(2GMRp/(Ra(Ra+Rp)))

where "Ra" is the satellite's maximum distance from earth's center; and "Rp" is its minimum distance.

The "period" of the wavy line (the time from crest to crest) is just the period T of the orbit. That is given by this:

T = 2π•sqrt((Ra+Rp)^3/(2GM))

The function describing the actual shape of the wavy line is fairly complicated. Go to the web site listed below if you want to slog through the details.

Answer 4

as you know orbiting of a sattelite round the earth is a kind of circular motion so we have : V=r*ω
both ω and r are constants.
so , although the direction of velocity is changing all the time , the amount of velocity is a constant.
so the graph will be y=V