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Kepler

This document provides an overview and summary of Lecture 8 which discusses Kepler's laws of planetary motion and Newton's theory of gravity. The key points are: 1) Kepler used Tycho Brahe's detailed astronomical observations to discover his three empirical laws of planetary motion - that planets orbit the Sun in ellipses, with the Sun at one focus, and that a line joining a planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times. 2) Newton synthesized Galileo's experiments, Kepler's laws, and invented calculus to formulate his theory of universal gravitation - that gravity is what pulls planets towards the Sun in elliptical orbits, and explains their motions. 3) Newton's theory of gravity was

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Subbu Suresh
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80 views3 pages

Kepler

This document provides an overview and summary of Lecture 8 which discusses Kepler's laws of planetary motion and Newton's theory of gravity. The key points are: 1) Kepler used Tycho Brahe's detailed astronomical observations to discover his three empirical laws of planetary motion - that planets orbit the Sun in ellipses, with the Sun at one focus, and that a line joining a planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times. 2) Newton synthesized Galileo's experiments, Kepler's laws, and invented calculus to formulate his theory of universal gravitation - that gravity is what pulls planets towards the Sun in elliptical orbits, and explains their motions. 3) Newton's theory of gravity was

Uploaded by

Subbu Suresh
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Reading: Bennett,! Chapter 3, Sections 3.4-3.5 ! Chapter 5, through Section 5.3 !

Web-based article on orbits Homework 3: Due in recitation Friday / Monday Homework 4: Available now: due on September 26/29 Exam 1: Thursday, October 2 - room(s) to be posted on website

Astro 120 Fall 2008: Lecture 8 page 1

a famous experiment 1612 (?)

Astro 120 Fall 2008: Lecture 8 page 2

1971

Brief review of last time: Og through Tycho Brahe

Early Science

prehistoric discoveries: visual observations - motivations Greek Astronomy perfect, immutable heavens, with Earth at the center uniform circular motions - epicycles computational scheme consistent with observations Copernicus - Sun to the center Tycho Brahe - detailed observations to test Copernican model

The Renaissance

1610 - Johannes Kepler


mathematician and klutz

Astro 120 Fall 2008: Lecture 8 page 3

Astro 120 Fall 2008: Lecture 8 page 4

used Tychos data on the motion of Mars:

Planets orbit the Sun in ELLIPTICAL

Keplers Law #1

with no circular motion bias


to discover

Kepler!s Laws of Planetary Motion


These are simple empirical laws explaining planetary motion, derived from data only, with no preconceptions.

orbits around, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse. abandonment of perfect circular motion
planet

Sun
nothing at other focus major axis

perihelion

aphelion

Astro 120 Fall 2008: Lecture 8 page 5

Astro 120 Fall 2008: Lecture 8 page 6

Anatomy of an ellipse

Keplers Law #2

DEFINITION
where your distance from two xed points adds up to a constant

FOCI - the two reference points MAJOR AXIS

focus

A line joining the planet to the Sun


focus

sweeps out equal areas in equal times.

longest dimension of ellipse contains foci usually refer to semimajor axis a ECCENTRICITY measure of the atness of the ellipse e= (distance between foci) / 2a e = 0 for a circle (semimajor axis = radius) 0 ! e ! 1 for an ellipse e = 1 for a parabola

abandon concept of constant speed

major axis (length = 2a)

e=0.5

e=0.15

planet moves faster when closer to the Sun

Astro 120 Fall 2008: Lecture 8 page 7

Astro 120 Fall 2008: Lecture 8 page 8

Keplers Law #3

Keplers 3rd Law


Planet
Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

The Law of Periods:


Period2 = (semimajor axis)3 P2 = a3 (P in years, a in A.U.)

P[y]
0.241 0.615 1.000 1.881 11.86 29.42 84.01 164.8

a[a.u.]
0.387 0.723 1.000 1.524 5.203 9.539 19.19 30.06

P2
0.0581 0.3782 1 3.5382 140.66 865.54 7057.7 27159

a3
0.058 0.3779 1 3.5396 140.85 867.98 7066.8 27162

P /a

1.00208 1.00077 1 0.99959 0.99864 0.99719 0.9987 0.99988

Bigger orbit (larger a) > longer Period

Astro 120 Fall 2008: Lecture 8 page 9

1666: Isaac Newton


!
mathematician: Invented calculus as a youth . . .
SYNTHESIZED:

Astro 120 Fall 2008: Lecture 8 page 10

Galileos Experiments
+ +

Keplers Laws Calculus into Physical Laws; the basis of Modern Science Apple falls -> ! Earth and apple attract each other ! Moon and Earth attract each other, too If moon moves sideways as it falls, it could forever circle the Earth...

Astro 120 Fall 2008: Lecture 8 page 11

Newtons Legacy

Astro 120 Fall 2008: Lecture 8 page 12

Force of Gravity pulls planets towards Sun


without gravity, planets would y away in straight lines
orbits of the planets

Newtons theory of gravity explains -simply- the


Understanding motions of the planets was the principal discovery of astronomy from prehistory through 1700.

Improved observations (technology) demanded more precise models of the Solar System This precision was

approached by complex models (epicycles, etc.) but achieved by discovery of the underlying simplicity: Gravity

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