Kepler’s Laws

Kepler and the Physics of Planetary Motion Laws of Planetary Motion Law 1 - Law of Ellipses Law 2 - Law of Equal Areas Law 3 - Harmonic Law (P 2 =ka 3 ) Kepler’s laws provide a concise and simple description of the motions of the planets

Lunar Orbit of Explorer 35 Moon Points represent satellite positions separated by equal time intervals.

Major Axis Minor Axis apoluna periluna Focus Points Center 90° e=0 perfect circle e=1 flat line Semi-major Axis = ½ Major Axis The Ellipse

periluna apoluna Center Verifying Kepler’s 1st P1P1 L1L1 L2L2 P2P2 L3L3 L4L4 L 1 + L 2 = L 3 + L 4 ??

Verifying Kepler’s 2 nd Equal area in equal time. Area = ½ base X height A2A2 A 1 = A 2 ?? A1A1 base height

Kepler’s 3 rd Finding the Moon’s mass. P 2 =ka 3

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