BELIEVE   ME   NOT!    -     A   SKEPTIC's   GUIDE  

next up previous
Next: Radians Up: Celestial Mechanics Previous: Celestial Mechanics

Circular Motion

Although no real orbit is ever a perfect circle, those of the inner planets aren't too far off and in any case it is a convenient idealization. Besides, we aren't restricted to planetary orbits here; the following derivation applies to any form of uniform circular motion, from tether balls on ropes to motorcycles on a circular track to charged particles in a cyclotron.10.1



 

Jess H. Brewer - Last modified: Sat Nov 14 12:22:13 PST 2015