Newtons derivation of the inverse square law of gravity牛顿逆平方律的引力定律.pptVIP

Newtons derivation of the inverse square law of gravity From observations of the night sky, it was clear to Newton (and many before him) that there must be some form of attraction between the earth and the moon, and the sun and the planets that caused them to orbit around the Sun. Yet, it was not at all clear that the same force of attraction could be responsible for the behavior of falling bodies near the surface of the earth. Newton postulated that one force called gravity was responsible for both motions. His problem, then, was to attempt to determine the force law. ? His method involved a comparison of the motions of the moon around the earth and an object (e.g., apple) falling towards the earth. Since neither the apple or the moon are moving in a straight line at constant speed, they must each be undergoing an acceleration. Would it be possible to determine the nature of the force responsible for that acceleration? In order to do so, he must first determine the accelerations of the moon and the apple. Know Facts about earth and moon Fact -1: Measured. The acceleration of the apple is 9.8 m/s2 or aA = 9.8 m/s2. Fact-2: The radius of the earth is RA = 6.37 ? 106 m. Fact-3: Measured. The distance from the earth to the moon is Rmoon = 3.84 ? 108 m. Fact-4: Measured. The moon goes around the earth once in 27.3 days. Calc-1: Cmoon = 2 ? Rmoon = 2 ? ? ? (3.84 ? 108) = 2.413 ? 109 m. Calc-2: vmoon = Cmoon ? (27.3 ? 24 ? 60 ? 60) = 1019 m/s. Since the moon is in (nearly) circular orbit around the earth, its motion can be approximated as circular. Therefore, the acceleration of the moon is a centripetal acceleration whose formula was discovered by Christian Huygen’s in 1657. amoon = v2moon / Rmoon And that value is Calc-3: amoon = v2moon / Rmoon = 10192 / 3.84 ? 108 = 2.704 ? 10?3 m/s2 Forming the acceleration and radius ratios We now have measurements for the accelerations of the moon and the apple. N