Gravitation and the Waltz of the Planets
Guiding Questions
Ancient astronomers invented geocentric models to explain planetary motions
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Nicolaus Copernicus devised the first comprehensive heliocentric model
A planet undergoes retrograde motion as seen from Earth when the Earth and the planet pass each other
A planet’s synodic period is measured with respect to the Earth and the Sun (for example, from one opposition to the next)
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Tycho Brahe’s astronomical observations disproved ancient ideas about the heavens
Parallax Shift
Johannes Kepler proposed elliptical paths for the planets about the Sun
Kepler’s First Law
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Kepler’s Second Law
Kepler’s Third Law
Galileo’s discoveries with a telescope strongly supported a heliocentric model
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Geocentric
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Isaac Newton formulated three laws that describe fundamental properties of physical reality
Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation
Newton’s description of gravity accounts for Kepler’s laws and explains the motions of the planets and other orbiting bodies
Orbits
Orbits may be any of a family of curves called conic sections
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Gravitational forces between two objects produce tides
The Origin of Tidal Forces
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Key Words
Author: Michael Cohen
E-mail: mrcohe@ship.edu
Homepage: http://physics.ship.edu/~mrc/