The similar forms of Coulomb’s law of electrostatics and Newton’s law of gravitation suggest that two oppositely charged spheres can orbit each other by means of the electrostatic force. We demonstrate electrostatic binary orbits using two oppositely charged graphite coated Styrofoam® spheres. The experiment was conducted on the NASA aircraft Weightless Wonder which simulates weightless conditions. Videos of 23 orbital attempts were analyzed to investigate the dynamics and orbital stability of the two sphere system. The results support predictions of a recently developed theory that establishes criteria for stable orbits between two conducting, electrically charged spheres.
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.© 2010 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2010
American Association of Physics Teachers
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