Classical Mechanics Puzzler

When the first (of two) Voyager spacecraft passed by Jupiter, it sent back the first closeup pictures of Jupiter and several of it's moons. Among these pictures were the startling picures of volcanic activity on the moon Io. After escaping earth's gravity and fighting against the sun's pull, the spacecraft approached Jupiter at a relatively slow speed.

Had the craft left Jupiter with only the velocity it had approaching Jupiter, it would would never have been able to reach Saturn. But Voyager did make it to Saturn (where it took some more fabulous pictures) using a clever trick, called gravitational assist. The spacecraft passed "behind" Jupiter, using its gravitational pull to slingshot itself towards Saturn. Voyager left Jupiter with a far greater speed than upon approach. Here's the puzzle.

From where did Voyagers big boost in KE come?
Discuss the consequences of this energy transfer?

Launched in 1977, Voyager I got it's first gravity assist at Jupiter in 1997 and another from Uranus and passed by Pluto's orbit in 1988. It is presently leaving the solar system at a speed of about 38,000 mph. Since 1997, it has moved a mere 20 light hours away from us. The nearest star to our sun is Proxima Centauri, located over 4 light YEARS away. If you'd like to more about the Voyager missions, check out JPL's (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Voyager Site.

AND, check out this Java Applet animation of the spring pendulum , which was one of the last week's homework problems!

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