NATS 1585 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Scientific Method, Net Force, Ellipse
Document Summary
Kepler first tried to match tycho"s observations with circular orbits. But and 8 arc minute discrepancy led him to eventually ellipse. An ellipse has two focus points; the further they are from each other the more elongated the ellipse is. Kepler"s first law: the orbit of each planet around the sun is an ellipse with the sun at one focus. (the sun will be at one focal point, but there will be nothing on the other) As a planet moves around its orbit, it sweeps out equal areas in equal times. A planet travels faster it is nearer to the sun and slower when it is farther from the sun. Distant planets orbit the sun at slower average, obeying the relationship. He overcame major objections to the copernican view. Galileo"s experiments showed that objects in air could stay with earth as it moves. Aristotle thought that all objects naturally come to rest.