Kepler’s law of planetary motion

PHY CHAPTER 3

Sub Topic _ 3.2

Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer, and

astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best
known for his laws of planetary motion, based on his works Astronomia
nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican Astronomy. These
works also provided one of the foundations for Isaac Newton's theory of
universal gravitation.
Keplers’s law of planetary motion

In astronomy, Kepler's laws of planetary motion are three scientific laws

describing the motion of planets around the Sun. Kepler's laws are
now traditionally enumerated in this way.
K E P L E R ’ S L AW S O F
P L A N E TA RY M O T I O N
1. Planets move around the Sun in
ellipses, with the Sun at one focus.

2. The line connecting the Sun to a

planet sweeps equal areas in equal
times.

3. The square of the orbital period of a

planet is proportional to the cube of
the semimajor axis of the ellipse.
Three laws of Kepler

1 Kepler’s first law- Law of orbit

Kepler’s second law- Law of equal areas

2

Kepler’s third law- Law of periods

3
Kepler’s first law- Law of orbit

Every planet revolves in an elliptical orbit around the sun. The orbit of every
planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci.
Kepler’s second law- Law of equal area

A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal
intervals of time.This law is known as Kepler’s second law.
W HAT D O E S L AW 2
MEAN?

The line connecting the S un to a planet

sweeps equal areas in equal times.
Kepler’s third law- Law of periods

The square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube
of the semi-major axis of its orbit.

According to Kepler’s third law :P2/a3

TERMINOLOGY OF
L AW 3
S emi- S emi-
M inor Axis M ajor Axis
b a

Major Axis
Minor Axis

a=semi-major axis
b=semi-minor
axis T=period
Mathematical representation of Kepler’s third law

T2/a3

‘T’ is the time taken for a planet to complete an orbit around the
sun

‘a’ is the mean value between the maximum

and minimum
distances between the planet and sun
W H AT DOES L AW 3 MEAN?

The square of the orbital period of a planet is

proportional to the cube of the semimajor axis of
the ellipse.
Contribution of Kepler’s law

 With the help of Kepler’s second law, Newton introduced the Law of
universal gravitation (Newton’s law of gravitation).
 Kepler’s laws are very useful in the study of planet orbit systems.
 These laws are also very important for satellite motion.
W H AT A B O U T I S A A C
N E W TO N ?
 “If I have seen further it is
by standing on the
shoulders of Giants.”

 Laws of Motion
 Universal Gravitation
 Explained Kepler’s laws
 The laws could be explained
mathematically if his laws of
motion and universal
gravitation were true.
 Developed calculus
Newton’s law of universal gravitation

Newton's law of universal gravitation states that any two bodies in the universe attract
each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and
inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

m M
r

Mass of body 1
Universal gravitational F= GmM
constant
r2
Distance between
Mass of body 2 two matter
I NI TI AL V A L U E S UAT I O N S
AND E Q
CONTINUED…
Force between the sun and a planet
F-force
(9) G-universal
gravitational
constant
M-mass of sun
Newton’s 2 nd law of motion: F=ma m-mass of planet
r-radius from sun to
planet

(10)
I N IT I AL V A L U E S A N D E Q U AT I O N S
CONTINUED…
Planets accelerate toward the sun, and a is a scalar multiple of
r.

(11)
 Reference

 Here you can get more about Keplers Law

https://www.britannica.com/science/Keplers-laws-of-planetary-motion and
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyR6EO_RMKE

 Textbook pdf form 4

pg 96 - 102

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