Re-establishing Kepler's first two laws for planets in a concise way through the non-stationary Earth. (30th April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hsiang, W Y; Chang, H C; Yao, H; Lee, P S
• Is Part Of: European journal of physics. Volume 36:Number 4(2015:Jul.)
• Publication Date: 2015-04-30
• Subjects: Kepler -- law of equal areas -- law of ellipses -- planet; 01.40.E -- 01.65.+g -- 45.50.Pk -- 95.10.Ce -- 95.10.Eg; Physics -- Periodicals; Physics -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Europe -- Periodicals; 530
• DOI: 10.1088/0143-0807/36/4/045006
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0143-0807

Abstract

Abstract: In this we design a simple and insightful way to achieve Kepler's first two laws for planets. The approach is quite different from what we have done for the Earth before. It is because the planet–Sun distance can be determined only through the Earth–Sun distance in the analysis. By applying the law of equal areas for the Earth and the observed angular speeds of a planet over the Sun, the law of equal areas for planets can be re-constructed. Furthermore, for the periodicity of a planet to the Sun, the distance from each planet to the Sun may be expressed as an angular periodic function. By coordinating with the observed data, this periodic distance function depicts an exact elliptical path. Here, we apply relatively easy mathematical skills to illustrate the invariant forms of planetary motions and indicate the key factors used to analyse the motions in complicated planetary systems.