Paper 4, Section II, B
(a) A particle of unit mass moves in a plane with polar coordinates . You may assume that the radial and angular components of the acceleration are given by , where the dot denotes . The particle experiences a central force corresponding to a potential .
(i) Prove that is constant in time and show that the time dependence of the radial coordinate is equivalent to the motion of a particle in one dimension in a potential given by
(ii) Now suppose that . Show that if then two circular orbits are possible with radii and . Determine whether each orbit is stable or unstable.
(b) Kepler's first and second laws for planetary motion are the following statements:
K1: the planet moves on an ellipse with a focus at the Sun;
K2: the line between the planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times.
Show that K2 implies that the force acting on the planet is a central force.
Show that K2 together with implies that the force is given by the inverse square law.
[You may assume that an ellipse with a focus at the origin has polar equation with and .]