Elliptical orbit Definition and 84 Threads

A.) Assume a rectangular coord system has its origin at the center of an elliptical planetary orbit and that the coord system x-axis lies along the major axis of the ellipse. Show that the equation for the ellipse is given by x^2/a^2 + y^2/b^2 =1. where a and b are the lengths if the...

A satellite is in an unstable elliptical orbit around the earth. Is there a way of tracking each satellite's orbit till it reaches the critical stage then follows it's reentry path? V<Vescape r=a*(1-e^2)/(1+e*cos(True Anomaly)) Book recommendations welcome. College educated.

Homework Statement In a science fiction story, humans have built a large spherical spaceship for an interstellar journey of many generations; they have christened their ship Big Bird. The mass of Big Bird is 7.496×1011 kg (the mass of an aircraft carrier is about 10^8 kg). Most of Big...

elliptical orbit question please help Homework Statement see attachmentHomework Equations 2a (average distance of satellite from central body) = A (aphelium) + P (perihelium) ME = KE + PE ME = -GMm/24 KE = .5mv^2 PE = -GMm/r ME orignall = ME final The Attempt at a Solution I tried to put ME =...

Homework Statement a satellite is set to orbit a planet of mass 4X 10^20 kg . It is placed at a distance of separation of 10^7m with a velocity of 30 degrees to the line connecting the center of the planet and the satellite. What will be its eccentrity fo orbit? (Answer is .89) Homework...

A comet is in an elliptical orbit around the Sun. Its closest approach to the Sun is a distance of 5e10 m (inside the orbit of Mercury), at which point its speed is 9e4 m/s. Its farthest distance from the Sun is far beyond the orbit of Pluto. What is its speed when it is 6e12 m from the Sun...

A comet is in an elliptical orbit around the Sun. Its closest approach to the Sun is a distance of 5e10 m (inside the orbit of Mercury), at which point its speed is 9e4 m/s. Its farthest distance from the Sun is far beyond the orbit of Pluto. What is its speed when it is 6e12 m from the Sun...

Homework Statement It is required to put a satellite into an orbit with apogee of 5R/2, where R is the radius of the planet. The satellite is to be launched from the surface with a speed Vo at 30degrees to the local vertical. If M is the mass of the planet, show that (Vo)^2 = 5GM/4R. Assume...

Homework Statement The equation of the elliptical orbit of Earth around the sun in polar coordinates is given by r =ep/1 − e cosa where p is some positive constant and e = 1/60. Let r0 and r1 denote the nearest and the furthest distance of the Earth from the sun. Calculate r1/r0...

Homework Statement see attachment #12.106 Homework Equations V=R\sqrt{}(g/r) (for a circular orbit) where R is the radius of the Earth and r is the radius of the orbit from the center of the earth conservation of momentum for elliptical orbits: Vara=Vbrb The Attempt at a Solution...

Homework Statement On July 1, 2004, the Cassini spacecraft approached Saturn with hyperbolic excess velocity 5.5 km/s to swing by the planet at the closest approach distance rp = 80,680 km. Compute the impulsive ΔV required for a maneuver performed at the closest approach to Saturn to...

Why is the total energy of an elliptical orbit given by: E_{tot}=\frac{-GMm}{2a} Where a=semi major axis. I agree for a circular orbit I can do the following: F_c=F_g ma_c=\frac{GMm}{r^2} \frac{v^2}{r}=\frac{GM}{r^2} v^2=\frac{GM}{r} Since the total energy also equal to the kinetic plus...

Circular orbit VS Elliptical orbit?? Differences? Homework Statement Hi I am trying to understand some questions about Space and man made satellites...i would really appreciate it if someone could help me out thanks...also i included an extra question about the theory of relativity if you can...

By just knowing the clues like the force of attraction between two masses and angular momentum conservation principle , linear momentum conservation principle and geometry..can we derive the trajectory of the Earth around the sun is ellipse..if so please tell me your ideas..

Homework Statement Consider a spacecraft in an elliptical orbit around the earth. At the low point, or perigee, of its orbit, it is 400 km above the Earth's surface; at the high point, or apogee, it is 4000 km above the Earth's surface. 1. What is the period of the spacecraft 's...

Homework Statement A satellite is in an elliptical orbit at altitudes ranging from 230 to 890 km. At the high point it's moving at 7.23 km/s. How fast is it moving at the low point? I would think i would have to use some sort of energy conservation equations. but i really don't know where...

Homework Statement A satellite of mass m is in an elliptical orbit around the Earth, which has mass M and radius R. The orbit varies from closest approach of 'a' at point A to maximum distance of 'b' from the center of Earth at point B. At point a the speed of the satellite is vo. Assume Ug...

Why do the planets travel in elliptical orbit around the Sun?

Homework Statement A planet with mass m is orbiting about the Sun (mass m(s)) with elliptical orbit such that the maximum and minimum distance is r1 and r2 respectively. What is its angular momentum, L, of the planet relative to the centre of the Sun? Homework Equations...

Homework Statement A planet of mass m orbiting the Sun(mass=m_s along an elliptical orbit, with aphelion r1 and perihelion r2. Find the angular momentum of the planet relative to the centre of the Sun. Homework Equations Angular momentum, M=m(R\times v)=mvR sin\theta Distance from Sun...

Homework Statement The period of a comet orbit is 100 years. As its closests approach is 0.37 AU from the sun. What is the semi-major axis of the comet's orbit? How far does it get from the sun? Homework Equations (T1/T2)^2 = (s1/s2)^3 The Attempt at a Solution I don't even know...

To help me you will need tho know Excel VBA very well. Earth has an elliptical orbit around the sun. JPL's website has the data to calculate this orbit: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/txt/p_elem_t1.txt In the spreadsheet the parameters are calculated from widely used equations and some of my...

help deriving this elliptical orbit equation?? Hi guys, this is my first post on these boards. just found out about this forum and I am really happy because i often find i need a place like this to ask questions and my prayers are answered! im a physics/computer science major in my second year...

Homework Statement The path of a very small satellite S in an elliptical orbit around a massive spherical planet P is shown in the figure. The distance from 3 to 4 is the same as from 4 to 5, 9 to 10, and 10 to 11. (Select T-True, F-False, G-Greater than, L-Less than, E-Equal to, If the first...

Homework Statement I have this problem for homework and I don't know how to even start. Can someone help? Thanks in advance.A neat and exploitive use of the sun would be to put a space probe into a solar elliptical orbit from the Earth on one side of the sun headed towards a rendezvous with...

Homework Statement There is a system of 3 bodies, consisting of the sun, the Earth and a comet. When the comet is at perihelion it is at a distance half that of the Earth's orbital radius. At this point it has a speed twice that of the earth's. Ignore the gravitational forces between the...

Homework Statement A particular comet has an elliptical orbit. When closest to the Sun (perihelion) it is at a distance of 8.823 1010 m and moves with a speed of 54.6 km/s. The greatest distance between this comet and the Sun (aphelion) is 6.106 1012 m. (a) Is the speed of the comet greater...

Homework Statement Comets travel around the sun in elliptical orbits with large eccentricities. If a comet has speed 2.3×10^4 m/s when at a distance of 2.7×10^11 m from the center of the sun, what is its speed when at a distance of 4.3×10^10 m. Homework Equations I tried using v =...

Why is the Earth's orbit elliptical? That is, what force acts on the Earth perpendicular to the force of the sun, that causes the tangential accelerations characteristic of an ellipse?

A particle is moving in a elliptical orbit with uniform speed. How can I tell whether there are tangential and normal acceleration or not on the particle? (At A B and C ) thanks for help!

Does it? :confused:

greetings If we throw an object in straight line this objects travels in parabolic path until it hits the ground. But in fact this parabola is only a part of an ellipse that object would travel in and center of the Earth is one of the foci points I understand that object can circle around...

A comet is first seen at a distance of d AUs from the Sun and is traveling with a speed of q times the Earth's speed. Apparently it can be shown that if q2·d is greater than, equal to, or less than 2, then the comet's orbit will be hyperbolic, parabolic or elliptical respectively. Any idea...

i was wondering, is there a particular formula to calculate the velocity of a object in an elliptical orbit. Let's say a satellite orbiting around the earth, and the orbit is elliptical, so how do u calculate the velocity at a certain distance from earth. I tried using the v^2=GM/r, but that's...