ASTR 111 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Universal Law, Escape Velocity, Inverse-Square Law
12 Oct 2017
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Every mass attracts other mass through the force called gravity. Strength of gravitational force attracting any two objects is directly proportional to the product of their masses. Gravitational constant - experimentally measured constant . Bound orbits - orbits on which an object travels repeatedly around another object; bound universal law of gravitation orbits are in an elliptical shape. Unbound orbits - orbits on which an object comes in toward a large body only once, never to return; unbound orbits may be parabolic or hyperbolic in shape. Center of mass (of orbiting objects) - point at which two or more orbiting objects would balance if they were somehow connected; it is the point around which the orbiting objects actually orbit. Newton"s version of kepler"s third law - a generalization of kepler"s third law used to calculate the masses of orbiting objects from measurements of orbital period and distance; usually written as p^2=a^3.
