A1 Dynamical Astronomy

Proof of Keplers rst law from Newtonian dynamics

A planet orbits the Sun in an ellipse, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse.
P is the component of v perpendicular to r . Now It would be a pity to have a course on dynamical as- as r  P D L2 =m. tronomy and not at least see a proof of Kelpers rst make the substitution  D 1=r , so that  law from Newtons laws of motion and gravitation. We can evaluate  as Z Again, this proof is not examinable! It is preL 2  dt (4) D sented here purely to satisfy curiosity and for your enm Z tertainment. L 2 dt D  d (5) m d m 1 d r P (6) but r PD 2 dt P Z r L r so  D d: (7) m r P  Rearranging equation 2 we can see that r P is M 2E L2 2 r P2 D C 2GM  : (8) r0 m m2 Now a further manipulation. We make the substitutions L2 (9) r0 D GM m2 2Er0 Figure 1: The geometry used in the proof. e2 D 1 C : (10) GM m Take a mass m in a general elliptical orbit around a Clearly, both r0 and e are constants. We choose them much more massive body M . When the separation of in this way so that our answer is immediately recognisable as an ellipse it is not an obvious substitution the masses is r , the total energy of the orbit is at this stage! After a little manipulation, equation 8 1 2 GM m ; (1) can be written as " E D mv 2 r   #1=2 1 2 L e2  : (11) r PD 2 where v is the speed of the orbiting mass and G the m r0 r0 constant of gravitation. The velocity of m has two this into equation 7 we get components: a radial component equal to dr=dt (writ- Substituting Z 1 ten r P ) and a component perpendicular to r which is p D d (12) 2 the circular component of the velocity, equal to r! .e=r0 / . 1=r0 /2   P / is the instantaneous angular velocity where ! .D  1=r0 1  D cos : (13) of the body, with  as shown in the diagram. Because e=r0 these components are orthogonal, the square of the toThis can be rearranged to give tal velocity equals the sum of the squares of these comr D r0 =.1 C e cos  /; (14) ponents. We can now write this energy equation in polar coordinates: which is the equation of an ellipse in polar coordinates, with the origin at a focus. We can now identify r0 as (2) the semi-latus rectum of the ellipse and e as its eccentricity. Similarly, we can write the angular momentum of m GW as 2P 2013 L D mr ; (3) ED 1 P 2/ m.r P 2 C r 2 2 GM m : r