called the apogee (aphelion). For a circular orbit, Rmax = Rmin, and = 0. The most extreme orbit corresponds to = 0, a = b e Rmin = 2a and =1. Rmax e Kepler’s 2nd law The radius vector from the Sun to the planet sweeps out equal area For our satellite, equal areas are swept out in equal time intervals. in equal time intervals by the radius vector from the Earth. This law is a consequence of the law of conservation of angular momentum,. In figure 2, the area of each triangle (for a small time interval can be expressed as t) (14) where is the tangential velocity. When a satellite moves in vt ellipse (e 0), is continually changing, therefore, when the R satellite moves close to the Earth it must speed up and as it gets further away from the Earth it must slow down (vt = constant). R
called the apogee (aphelion). For a circular orbit, Rmax = Rmin, a = b and e = 0. The most extreme orbit corresponds to Rmin = 0, Rmax = 2a and e =1. Kepler’s 2nd law The radius vector from the Sun to the planet sweeps out equal area in equal time intervals. For our satellite, equal areas are swept out in equal time intervals by the radius vector from the Earth. This law is a consequence of the law of conservation of angular momentum,. In figure 2, the area of each triangle (for a small time interval t) can be expressed as (14) where vt is the tangential velocity. When a satellite moves in ellipse (e 0), R is continually changing, therefore, when the satellite moves close to the Earth it must speed up and as it gets further away from the Earth it must slow down (vt R = constant).