Kepler's laws and conic sections (Q258984): Difference between revisions

The Kepler's law reads as second order ODE \(\ddot{\pmb{\text{r}}} = -k |\pmb{\text{r}}|^{-3} \pmb{\text{r}}\), where \(\pmb{\text{r}}=(x,y)\) is the position of a planet \(P\) in the \(Oxy\)-plane and \(k\) is a coefficient of proportionality in the Newton law \(F=ma\). The author lifts \(P\) on the cone \(r^2=x^2+y^2\) and represents the lifted point \(P'\) by its radius-vector \(\pmb{\text{R}}:=\pmb{\text{r}} + \big(0,0,r-k^{-1} |\pmb{\text{r}} \times\dot{\pmb{\text{r}}}|^2\big)\). By virtue of the Kepler's 2nd law \(\pmb{\text{r}} \times\dot{\pmb{\text{r}}}\) equals to a constant vector. Then the author proves the three classical Kepler's law without any integration of ODEs as follows: i) the lifted on the cone \(r^2=x^2+y^2\) trajectory obeys the equation of motion \(\,\ddot{\pmb{\text{R}}} = -k r^{-3} \pmb{\text{R}}\) and hence the fictitious angular momentum \(m\pmb{\text{R}} \times \dot{\pmb{\text{R}}}\) is conserved, ii) (Kepler's 1st law) when lifted on the cone Keplerian trajectories become an intersection of the cone \(r^2=x^2+y^2\) and a plane that makes an angle \(\phi\) with the plane \(r=0\). Moreover, \(\tan\phi=\)(eccentricity \(e\) of the orbit in \(Oxy\)), \(e \in [0,1)\). When \(e=1\) or \(e>1\), then the ellipse becomes respectively a parabola or a hyperbola, iii) (Kepler's 3rd law) the squares of the periods are proportional to the cubes of the semi-major axes of the ellipse on \(r^2=x^2+y^2\). Reviewer's comment: Anyway the most powerful method for ODEs integrating: \(\dot f=0\Rightarrow f=\text{constant}\) has been significantly used.