- #1
Sekonda
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Hey, here is the problem:
The minimum distance of a comet from the Sun is observed to be half the radius of the
Earth’s orbit (assumed circular) and its speed at that point is twice the orbital speed v(earth) of the Earth. The Earth’s and comet’s orbits are coplanar. Find the comet’s speed in terms of
v(earth) when it crosses the Earth’s orbit, and the angle at which the orbits cross.
I believe this is an energy conservation problem and I used the equation:
0.5mv^2 + (L^2)/(2mr^2) - GMm/r
as well as the fact the Earth's orbital velocity : v(earth) = vsin(θ)
Though I'm not sure if these equations are correct for this particular scenario,
Thanks for any help!
S
The minimum distance of a comet from the Sun is observed to be half the radius of the
Earth’s orbit (assumed circular) and its speed at that point is twice the orbital speed v(earth) of the Earth. The Earth’s and comet’s orbits are coplanar. Find the comet’s speed in terms of
v(earth) when it crosses the Earth’s orbit, and the angle at which the orbits cross.
I believe this is an energy conservation problem and I used the equation:
0.5mv^2 + (L^2)/(2mr^2) - GMm/r
as well as the fact the Earth's orbital velocity : v(earth) = vsin(θ)
Though I'm not sure if these equations are correct for this particular scenario,
Thanks for any help!
S