HELIOCENTRICITY REPORT, Assignments of Science education

Download HELIOCENTRICITY REPORT and more Assignments Science education in PDF only on Docsity! HELIOCENTRICITY WHAT IS HELIOCENTRIC THEORY ? • THE THEORY THAT THE EARTH REVOLVES AROUND THE SUN IS CALLED THE HELIOCENTRIC THEORY, HELIO MEANING 'SUN' AND CENTRIC MEANING 'IN THE CENTER.' THIS THEORY WAS DEVELOPED IN PARTS BY DIFFERENT ASTRONOMERS OVER MANY YEARS, NAMELY ARISTARCHUS, COPERNICUS, KEPLER, AND GALILEO. A HELIOCENTRIC SYSTEM IS ONE IN WHICH THE PLANETS REVOLVE AROUND A FIXED SUN. THUS MERCURY, VENUS, THE EARTH, MARS, JUPITER AND SATURN ALL REVOLVE AROUND THE SUN. THE MOON IS THE ONLY CELESTIAL SPHERE IN THIS SYSTEM WHICH REVOLVES AROUND THE EARTH, AND, TOGETHER WITH IT, AROUND THE SUN. German astronomer Johannes Kepler used mathematics to calculate the path of the planets, finding that they traveled not in circles, as long expected, but in ellipses. German astronomer who discovered three major  laws of planetary motion, conventionally designated as follows: (1) the planets move in elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus; (2) the time necessary to traverse any arc of a planetary  orbit is proportional to the area of the sector between the central body and that arc (the “area law”); and (3) there is an exact relationship between the squares of the planets’ periodic times and the cubes of the radii of their orbits (the “harmonic law”).  Nicolaus Copernicus  Polish astronomer, mathematician, and canon  Modeled the movements of the Sun, the Moon, and the five known planets in the skies above, using a heliocentric system of orbits.  Born: 1473 in Torun, Poland  Died: 1543 in Frombork, Poland HOW DID COPERNICUS PROVE THIS THEORY • HE ALSO DETERMINED THAT THE EARTH ROTATES DAILY ON ITS AXIS AND THAT THE EARTH'S MOTION AFFECTED WHAT PEOPLE SAW IN THE HEAVENS. COPERNICUS DID NOT HAVE THE TOOLS TO PROVE HIS THEORIES. BY THE 1600S, ASTRONOMERS SUCH AS GALILEO WOULD DEVELOP THE PHYSICS THAT WOULD PROVE HE WAS CORRECT. COPERNICUS DIED ON MAY 24, 1543. WHAT IMPORTANT FINDINGS DID COPERNICUS DISCOVER ABOUT SPACE ? • NICOLAUS COPERNICUS WAS A POLISH ASTRONOMER WHO PUT FORTH THE THEORY THAT THE SUN IS AT REST NEAR THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE, AND THAT THE EARTH, SPINNING ON ITS AXIS ONCE DAILY, REVOLVES ANNUALLY AROUND THE SUN. THIS IS CALLED THE HELIOCENTRIC, OR SUN-CENTERED, SYSTEM. WHY IS THE HELIOCENTRIC IS IMPORTANT ? • NICOLAUS CREATED THE HELIOCENTRIC THEORY, BECAUSE THE GEOCENTRIC THEORY DIDN'T ACCURATELY EXPLAIN THE MOVEMENTS OF THE SUN, MOON AND PLANETS AND HE WANTED TO PROVE TO THE CHURCH THAT HIS THEORY IS THE TRUTH ABOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM. ... IT DISCREDITED MANY PEOPLE'S THEORIES AND MODERN BELIEF AT THE TIME. CELESTIAL MECHANICS • CELESTIAL MECHANICS, IN THE BROADEST SENSE, THE APPLICATION OF CLASSICAL MECHANICSTO THE MOTION OF CELESTIAL BODIES ACTED ON BY ANY OF SEVERAL TYPES OF FORCES. BY FAR THE MOST IMPORTANT FORCE EXPERIENCED BY THESE BODIES, AND MUCH OF THE TIME THE ONLY IMPORTANT FORCE, IS THAT OF THEIR MUTUAL GRAVITATIONAL ATTRACTION. BUT OTHER FORCES CAN BE IMPORTANT AS WELL, SUCH AS ATMOSPHERIC DRAG ON ARTIFICIAL SATELLITES, THE PRESSURE OF RADIATION ON DUST PARTICLES, AND EVEN ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCES ON DUST PARTICLES IF THEY ARE ELECTRICALLY CHARGED AND MOVING IN A MAGNETIC FIELD. EARLY THEORIES • CELESTIAL MECHANICS HAS ITS BEGINNINGS IN EARLY ASTRONOMY IN WHICH THE MOTIONS OF THE SUN, THE MOON, AND THE FIVE PLANETS VISIBLE TO THE UNAIDED EYE —MERCURY, VENUS, MARS, JUPITER, AND SATURN—WERE OBSERVED AND ANALYZED. THE WORD PLANET IS DERIVED FROM THE GREEK WORD FOR WANDERER, AND IT WAS NATURAL FOR SOME CULTURES TO ELEVATE THESE OBJECTS MOVING AGAINST THE FIXED BACKGROUND OF THE SKY TO THE STATUS OF GODS; THIS STATUS SURVIVES IN SOME SENSE TODAY IN ASTROLOGY, WHERE THE POSITIONS OF THE PLANETS AND SUN ARE THOUGHT TO SOMEHOW INFLUENCE THE LIVES OF INDIVIDUALS ON EARTH. THE DIVINE STATUS OF THE PLANETS AND THEIR SUPPOSED INFLUENCE ON HUMAN ACTIVITIES MAY HAVE BEEN THE PRIMARY MOTIVATION FOR CAREFUL, CONTINUED OBSERVATIONS OF PLANETARY MOTIONS AND FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ELABORATE SCHEMES FOR PREDICTING THEIR POSITIONS IN THE FUTURE.