Recent content by Fredley_Banyo

I finally figured it out. For the circular orbit it is all five and for the elliptical it is a,c and d. Thank you for your help.

So that is saying that the net force is pointing towards the center of the orbit.

It says that the total vector sum of forces acting on a system is equal to the rate of change of its momentum (dp/dt)

Momentum is defined as mass*velocity and is a vector. dp/dt is the rate of change of momentum and there is both a perpendicular component to the motion, which is the gravitational force and also one parallel which deals with the direction, which is constantly changing.

Homework Statement 1. Which of the following statements about a circular orbit are true? (The planet is orbiting around the star.) a. At any instant the momentum of the planet is tangent to the planet's trajectory. b. The magnitude of the planet's momentum is constant. c. At every...

1. Which of the following statements about a circular orbit are true? (The planet is orbiting around the star.)a. At any instant the momentum of the planet is tangent to the planet's trajectory. b. The magnitude of the planet's momentum is constant. c. At every instant, dvector p/dt points...