On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 12:50 PM, OrionWorks - Steven V Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: > From Harry: > >>> From OrionWorks: >>> What I can say is that the new system involves an alternative way of >>> graphing out a periodic orbit - where you plot an "elliptical" orbit on a >>> TIME-LINE chart. The orbital distance is the "Y" vertical value and the >>> horizontal "X" value is the time value. >> >> That graph should look something like a sine curve....or not? > > You're on the right track. However the time-line looks more like a > bouncing ball.
I think I understand now. You are mapping a two dimensional distance vector to the distance axis of your distance-time graph, so that a perfectly circular orbit corresponds to a straight line. This differs from a distance time graph in an introductory course in physics where the distance axis represents the length of a one dimensional vector so that a straight line in this graph corresponds with a stationary body (and by implication zero velocity and zero acceleration.) > The "bouncing" part is where the satellite has reached the perihelion > (closest distance) in the orbital period. I am puzzled by this. Why isn't there a "bouncing part" at the aphelion? > Ironically, at this moment > in time I would conjecture that it would not be incorrect to stipulate > that the orbiting satellite is behaving as if it's being influenced by > a NEGATIVE gravitational field. That's where the 1/r^3 (cubed) part of > the algorithm comes into play. It influences the direction the > satellite is taking by pushing it away. Traditionally speaking, we are > used to interpreting that aspect of the orbit as the influence of > centripetal action. It's all a matter of interpretation! The cubed > (negative forces) influence only comes into play in close proximity to > the planet for which the satellite is orbiting around. At farther > distances, the normal 1/r^2 (attractive forces) take over. > > It's really kind of a nifty perspective, if not a little wacky! ;-) > > Regards > Steven Vincent Johnson > www.OrionWorks.com > www.zazzle.com/orionworks >
