Lecture 19: Orbits
Why do Kepler's Laws work? This lecture discusses how Newton applied\nhis Three Laws of Motion and the Law of Universal Gravitation to the\nproblem of orbits. Newton generalized Kepler's laws to apply to any two\nmassive bodies orbiting around their common center of mass. We discuss\nthese new, generalized laws of orbital motion, introducing the families\nof open and closed orbits, circular and escape velocity, center-of-mass,\nconservation of angular momentum, and how orbital mechanics is used to\nmeasure the masses of astronomical objects. Recorded 2006 Oct 17 in 100\nStillman Hall on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.