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ERIC Number: EJ1223133
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Sep
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0031-9120
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Free-Falling Body and Kepler's Laws
Chaudhuri, S.
Physics Education, v54 n5 Article 055011 Sep 2019
In this paper, we derive an equation for the distance covered by a free-falling body as a function of time valid for any arbitrary distance. The equation, interestingly, yields exactly the time according to the Kepler's third law in the limiting case of very large distance compared to the radius of the Earth. The equation, of course, reduces to the familiar one of the distance proportional to the square of the time in the limiting case of the distance being small compared to the radius of the Earth. This could be an interesting way to introduce some aspects of the Kepler's laws to high school and undergraduate college courses through the problem of free-falling bodies without having to solve the Kepler's problem in its entirety.
IOP Publishing. 190 North Independence Mall West Suite 601, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 215-627-0880; Fax: 215-627-0879; e-mail: ped@ioppublishing.org; Web site: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/0031-9120
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A