I'm having a very hard time with the symbols. I'll try and explain then.
While deriving the trajectory equation for the general two body problem, it says:
r(vector) dot r(vector, dot) = r r(dot)
where the dot within the parenthesis represents the dot written above the variable to indicate...
My confusion I guess is that the relationship A dot B= AB where B is the derivative wrt time of A is often used generally in Astrodynamics texts. It doesn't seem generally correct, but it appears everywhere as a mathematical shortcut.
Hey everyone,
This has been bugging me for a bit. I think I'm probably missing something pretty easy.
A dot B= ABcos(θ), where θ is the angle between A and B.
There is the little shortcut that says where B is the derivative of A, A dot B= AB. Clearly then cos(θ) = 1, and the angle between a...