Deducing Kepler's second law from Newton's laws?

In summary, it is possible to derive Kepler's second law, which states that an imaginary line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out an equal area of space in equal amounts of time, using angular momentum. This can be done by keeping the sun at the origin, using Newton's gravitational force, and proving that the vector representing the area swept out is constant.
  • #1
vinicius0197
54
7
I've searched a little bit and found that I can derive kepler's third law from Newton's law of gravitation. That's okay. But I want to deduce kepler's second law too: "An imaginary line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out an equal area of space in equal amounts of time".
I know it's possible to do that using angular momentum, and from there proving that angular momentum in this case is constant. But how would I do that?
 
Science news on Phys.org
  • #3
vinicius0197 said:
I've searched a little bit and found that I can derive kepler's third law from Newton's law of gravitation. That's okay. But I want to deduce kepler's second law too: "An imaginary line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out an equal area of space in equal amounts of time".
I know it's possible to do that using angular momentum, and from there proving that angular momentum in this case is constant. But how would I do that?
vinicius0197 said:
I've searched a little bit and found that I can derive kepler's third law from Newton's law of gravitation.
That's okay. But I want to deduce kepler's second law too: "An imaginary line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out an equal area of space in equal amounts of time".
I know it's possible to do that using angular momentum, and from there proving that angular momentum in this case is constant. But how would I do that?

Keep the sun at the origin. At any time t let ##\vec { r(t)}## be the position vector of a planet. At the moment t+dt the position vector will be ##\vec {r (t)}+\vec{dr (t)}##. So within the interval of time dt the planet sweeps out an area ## \vec{da}= \frac {1}{2} \vec{r (t)}\times\vec{dr (t)} \Rightarrow \vec{\frac{da}{dt}}= \frac {1}{2} \vec{r (t)}\times\vec{\frac{dr}{dt}} ## Now you know that Newton's gravitational force is central in nature or mathematically ## \frac {d^2\vec{r}}{dt^2} = f (r)\vec{r} \Rightarrow \vec{r}\times \frac {d^2\vec{r}}{dt^2} = \vec{0}\Rightarrow \frac {d}{dt}(\vec{r (t)}\times\vec{\frac{dr}{dt}})=\vec{0}\Rightarrow \frac{d}{dt}(\vec{\frac{da}{dt}})=\vec{0} ## So, ##\vec{\frac{da}{dt}}## is a constant vector. This is Kepler's second law.
 
  • Like
Likes vanhees71 and vinicius0197

1. What is Kepler's second law?

Kepler's second law, also known as the law of equal areas, states that a line connecting a planet to the sun will sweep out equal areas in equal time intervals. This means that a planet moves faster when it is closer to the sun and slower when it is further away.

2. How does Newton's first law relate to Kepler's second law?

Newton's first law, also known as the law of inertia, states that an object will remain at rest or in motion with constant velocity unless acted upon by an external force. In terms of Kepler's second law, this means that a planet will continue to orbit the sun in a fixed elliptical path unless a force, such as gravity, acts upon it.

3. What is the role of gravity in deducing Kepler's second law from Newton's laws?

Gravity is the force that keeps planets in orbit around the sun. According to Newton's law of universal gravitation, the force of gravity between two objects is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. This force causes a planet to accelerate towards the sun, resulting in the sweeping out of equal areas in equal time intervals.

4. Can Kepler's second law be derived from Newton's laws mathematically?

Yes, Kepler's second law can be derived from Newton's laws mathematically using calculus. By setting the gravitational force equal to the centripetal force, we can derive the equation for the area swept out by a planet in a given time interval, which is equal to the area of the corresponding sector of the ellipse.

5. Why is it important to understand the relationship between Kepler's second law and Newton's laws?

Understanding the relationship between Kepler's second law and Newton's laws allows us to better understand the motion of objects in our solar system and beyond. It also helps us to make predictions about the behavior of planets and other celestial bodies, which is crucial in fields such as astrophysics and space exploration.

Similar threads

  • Thermodynamics
Replies
8
Views
2K
Replies
3
Views
5K
  • Thermodynamics
Replies
9
Views
1K
Replies
18
Views
1K
Replies
14
Views
7K
Replies
6
Views
967
  • Introductory Physics Homework Help
Replies
8
Views
1K
  • Other Physics Topics
Replies
24
Views
764
Replies
4
Views
834
Back
Top