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ERIC Number: EJ775642
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2002-May
Pages: 6
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0031-9120
EISSN: N/A
Teaching Kepler's Laws as More than Empirical Statements
Noll, Ellis D.
Physics Education, v37 n3 p245-250 May 2002
At the pre-college and first-year college level of physics instruction, Kepler's laws are generally taught as empirical laws of nature. Introductory physics textbooks only derive Kepler's Second law of areas. It is possible to derive all of Kepler's laws mathematically from the conservation laws, employing only high-school algebra and geometry. Moreover, a treatment of Kepler's Third law can naturally proceed from the general elliptic orbit to the special case of a circular orbit. Consequently, a study of Kepler's Third law need not be restricted to circular orbits. (Contains 3 figures.)
Institute of Physics Publishing. The Public Ledger Building Suite 929, 150 South Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 215-627-0880; Fax: 215-627-0879; e-mail: info@ioppubusa.com; Web site: http://journals.iop.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: High Schools; Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A