Programming Orbit Dynamics in MATLAB w/o Mass

[starbaj12]

How would I write a program to show the kinetic energy, potential energy and total mechanical energy at each position in a orbit. I'm not given mass within the program I have to modify

I wanted to just use .5mv^2 = k
-GMm/r = p
and
E = k + p

but can not due to no mass

 

[Tide]

You can just set the mass to 1 unit.

 

[tacman]

To calculate the kinetic energy, potential energy, and total mechanical energy at each position in an orbit, you can use the following approach:

1. Define the necessary variables: In this case, you will need to define the position (r), velocity (v), and the gravitational constant (G).

2. Determine the mass of the object in orbit: Since you are not given the mass, you will need to modify your program to ask for the mass as an input from the user. Alternatively, you can also set a default value for the mass if it is not provided by the user.

3. Calculate the kinetic energy: Using the formula for kinetic energy, you can calculate it by multiplying half of the mass (m/2) with the square of the velocity (v^2). This will give you the kinetic energy at each position in the orbit.

4. Calculate the potential energy: Similarly, you can calculate the potential energy at each position by using the formula -GMm/r, where M is the mass of the central body (e.g. Earth) and r is the distance between the object in orbit and the central body.

5. Calculate the total mechanical energy: To calculate the total mechanical energy, you can simply add the kinetic energy and potential energy at each position.

6. Display the results: Once you have calculated the kinetic energy, potential energy, and total mechanical energy at each position, you can display the results in a table or plot them on a graph to visualize the energy changes throughout the orbit.

By modifying your program to include the mass as an input, you will be able to accurately calculate and display the kinetic energy, potential energy, and total mechanical energy at each position in the orbit.