A point of clarification about the elliptical orbits of the planets of our solar system.
The planets of our solar system are able to orbit about the Sun in the form of an ellipse because of Newton's first two laws of motion. The first law of motion captures how a planet constantly 'flies' away in a straight line at a constant speed, while the second one captures how it constantly 'falls' towards the centre of the solar system's mass, which is near the centre of the Sun. Hence, these two laws of motion capture the contradictory tendencies of a planet's elliptical orbit about the Sun. It's because of these two laws of motion that a planet is able to follow an elliptical path about the Sun. They do this by counteracting each other to produce and maintain the elliptical motion of a planet. In short, it's a kind of balancing act, they perform.
No comments:
Post a Comment