Ah! I didn't think about that. Thank you.
Does that mean that the furthest distance from the planet is therefore infinity since, with a positive total energy the ship is in an unbounded hyperbolic orbit?
Hm.
I'm pretty sure that's what I did when I combined equations (1) and (2) -v2 = GM/R and E = (1/2)*m*(2v)2 -GMm/R = -GMm/(r+R) -------> AH sorry, I had "= -GMm/2(r+R)" in my original post as opposed to "= -GMm/(r+R)"
But just to share what I did:
So K (before impulse) = GMm/2R...
Thank you TSny.
I think the total energy after the impulse should still be negative due to the half potential at average distance: -GMm/2a?
Zero doesn't make sense to me as we are providing it with a positive impulse thus increasing the total energy in the process, but not equal to the...
Homework Statement
A rocket ship is in circular orbit of radius R around a planet. Its velocity is doubled by a sudden engine burst. Calculate the furthest distance from the planet on the new trajectory.
Homework Equations
Elliptical energy equation: E = Ek +Ep = -GMm/2a (a=semi major axis)...