Kepler’s laws of Central

planetary motion Force

Presented by: Souhardya Sen, 420PH2174

 Central Force: An Introduction
A force is said to be central under two conditions. First, the direction of the
force must always be toward or away from a fixed point. This point is known
as the center of the force, O. Second, the magnitude of the force should only
be proportional to the distance r between the particle and the center of the
force. The central force may be written as

where r is the vector magnitude |r| (the distance to the center of force)
and r̂ = r/r is the corresponding unit vector. According to Newton's second law
of motion, the central force F generates a parallel acceleration a scaled by the
mass m of the particle

Therefore, if F(r) < 0, then the central force is an attractive force since it is
directed toward the center of the force O; and if F(r) > 0, the force is
repulsively directed away from O.
 Prologue
Before the Kepler’s laws, a few inaccurate models regarding planetary motion were
proposed. One of the first such hugely successful was the Plotemaic “geo-centric”
model proposed by the famous Greek philosopher Ptolemy(100-170AD). According
to this model, the Earth was at the center of the universe with the stars revolving
around it in perfect spheres or circles, and the planets move on spheres within
spheres. This theory remained sufficiently accurate for about 1500 years.

Then came Nicolaus Copernicus(1473-1543), an European astronomer, who

proposed a modern “helio-centric” model of the solar system. According to this
Ptolemy model, the Sun was at the centre of the system and the planets revolved around in
perfect circles. This model was better suited to predict the planetary motion but still
had some major flaws.

A few years later, Tycho Brahe, a Danish astronomer, made very accurate naked eye
observations of the stars and planets and recorded them. But he couldn’t explain why
his data looked like the way it did. So he hired a young apprentice who actually
explained it. This apprentice was none other than Johannes Kepler, who realized
that if he tried to predict the position of Mars using circular orbits, it wouldn’t fit the
data. So he completely abandoned the theory of circular orbits and went on to
formulate his own new theory using elliptical orbits. This became the foundation for
Copernicus his present day laws of planetary motion.
 Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) is one of the most significant representatives of the
so-called Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries. Although he received
only the basic training of a “magister” and was professionally oriented towards
theology at the beginning of his career, he rapidly became known for his
mathematical skills and theoretical creativity.

As a convinced Copernican, Kepler was able to defend the new system on different
fronts: against the old astronomers who still sustained the system of Ptolemy, against
the Aristotelian natural philosophers, against the followers of the new “mixed
system” of Tycho Brahe—whom Kepler succeeded as Imperial Mathematician in
Prague—and even against the standard Copernican position according to which the
new system was to be considered merely as a computational device and not
necessarily a physical reality.

While he attained immortal fame in astronomy because of his three planetary laws,
Kepler also made fundamental contributions in the fields of optics and mathematics.
To his contemporaries he was also a famous mathematician and astrologer; for his
own part, he wanted to be considered a philosopher who investigated the innermost
structure of the cosmos scientifically.
The 3 laws of Planetary Motion
1. Law of Orbits
2. Law of Areas
3. Law of Periods
 First law: Statement
 
Law of Orbits
Planets travel in elliptical orbits with the Sun at one of the foci, and obey the equation ,
where  for 0 < e < 1. (Comets and other bodies can have hyperbolic orbits, where ,
for e > 1)
 First law: Proof
As usual, we begin with Newton’s Second Law: F = ma, in vector form. The force is GMm/r2 in a radial inward direction. But
what is the acceleration? Is it just d2r/dt2?  Well, no, because if the planet’s moving in a circular orbit it’s still accelerating
inwards at rw2 (same as v2/r) even though r is not changing at all. The total acceleration is the sum, so ma = F becomes

This isn’t ready to integrate yet, because w varies too. But since the angular momentum L is constant, L = mr2w, we can get
rid of w in the equation to give:

This equation can be integrated, using two very unobvious tricks, figured out by hindsight.  The first is to change go from the
variable r to its inverse, u = 1/r. The other is to use the constancy of angular momentum to change the variable t to .
 First law: Proof(Contd.)
Substituting in the equation of motion gives:

This equation is easy to solve!  The solution is

where A is a constant of integration, determined by the initial conditions.

This is equivalent to the standard (r,  ) equation of an ellipse of semi major axis a and eccentricity e, with
the origin at one focus, which is:
 Second law: Statement

Law of Areas
A line segment joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal
intervals of time. Alternatively, when a planet moves around the Sun, its areal velocity
remains constant

The same (blue) area is swept out in a fixed

time period. The green arrow is velocity. The
purple arrow directed towards the Sun is the
acceleration. The other two purple arrows are
acceleration components parallel and
perpendicular to the velocity.
 Second law: Proof
If dA is small area swept by the line joining the planet to the Sun in time dt, then

        

.... (1)
Dividing the above equation by dt, we get,

where ω=     is the angular speed of the planet in its orbit and      is the areal velocity of the planet.
Multiplying and dividing the R.H.S of the equation(2) by 'm' i.e., the mass of the planet, we get,

                  
Since, m r2 ω = L, the angular momentum of the planet about the axis through the Sun, we have,
             
... (3)
As no external torque acts on the planet during its orbital motion, its angular momentum (L) must remain constant.
Since both L and m are constant, the equation(3) becomes, 
                
 Third law: Statement
 
Law of Periods
The square of a planet's orbital period is proportional to the cube of the length(in Astronomical
Unit, AU) of the semi-major axis of its orbit,
, where k is a constant
 Third law: Proof
The centripetal force required for making the planet to revolve in the circular orbit is provided by the
gravitational pull of the Sun i.e., 
 
           
or .... (1)

The period of revolution of the planet around the Sun is,

or .... (2)
             
Since,       is constant,
                    
we can conclude
 Questions
1. The “helio-centric” model was first proposed by: 4. Which of the following is true?(Symbols have
a. Galileo their usual meaning):
b. Plato a. T2=ka3
c. Copernicus b. T3=ka2
d. Kepler c. T2=ka2
d. None of the above
2. A planet moves the fastest when it nears the:
a. Aphelion 5. If the distance between Earth and the Sun were
b. Perihelion half of its present value, then how many
c. The speed does not change number of days will be there in a year?
d. It differs for every planet a. 182 days
b. 230 days
3. An Astronomical Unit, or AU, is the average distance c. 117 days
between: d. 129 days
a. The Earth and the Moon
b. The Sun and the Moon
c. The Sun and Mercury Answer key:
d. The Sun and the Earth 1.c 2.b 3.d 4.a 5.d
THANK YOU!!!