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The document discusses Newton's Third Law in the context of gravitational forces, specifically comparing the gravitational force between the Earth and the Sun at perihelion and aphelion. It explains that the relative strength of the gravitational force can be calculated without knowing the gravitational constant or the masses of the Sun and Earth. The derived ratio indicates that the gravitational force at perihelion is approximately 1.07 times stronger than at aphelion.

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12 views4 pages

I Pad Notes

The document discusses Newton's Third Law in the context of gravitational forces, specifically comparing the gravitational force between the Earth and the Sun at perihelion and aphelion. It explains that the relative strength of the gravitational force can be calculated without knowing the gravitational constant or the masses of the Sun and Earth. The derived ratio indicates that the gravitational force at perihelion is approximately 1.07 times stronger than at aphelion.

Uploaded by

cassidybranch1
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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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September 29,2020

ASTRONOMY CAST 1002

F Gmd
p2
m Xm e.g X 2

M
YM e.g y L
r 2 r e.g 2 3

F GMI
r2
FE G Xm YM
F IE
F
7
3
Y L
i Z
2

F
1276 tog

ee

NEWTON's THIRD CoD

Fiz Fz
BE Ma 0.1kg

Men65104kg
mu
we 10 m s
g 10m15
F Moe

t
oe
m g 10m15

a TI E
Me MI Fmr
Ems Fuel
25
Homework 5 — Question 7
As you know, the Earth revolves around the Sun in an ellipse. The distance of closest
approach to the Sun (perihelion) equals 0.983 AU whereas the distance of farthest
approach (aphelion) equals 1.017 AU. Approximately how much stronger is the
gravitational force between the Earth and the Sun at perihelion than at aphelion?

Do we need to know the value of the gravitational constant or the masses of both
the Sun and the Earth to solve this problem? The answer is NO! The key to solving
this problem is that you are being asked to compute the relative (not absolute)
strength of the force. The following derivation shows how to solve the problem
without ever having to plug in numbers for G, M, or m.

GM m
Fp =
rp2
GM m
Fa =
ra2
GM m ✓ ◆2
Fp rp2 ra2 1.017
= GM m
= = = 1.07
Fa ra2
rp2 0.983

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