Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion:

o Planets on elliptical orbits

o Sun off center
o Predict where planets will be at any moment ( Geocentric model doesn’t have enough predict)
LAW #1: The orbit of a planet around the Sun is an ellipse with the Sun at one focus.
 Aphelion: where the planet is farthest from the Sun
 Perihelion: where the planet is closest to Sun
LAW #2: A line joining the planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of
time (in equal times). Planets don’t move at constant speed.
LAW #3: The Square of a planet’s sidereal period around the Sun is directly proportional to
the cube of its semi-major axis. P2 ≈ a3 ; P2 = ka3
 Planets move more slowly the further they were away from the Sun.
 And the further away a planet is, the slower it orbits.
 For the first time, Kepler introduced celestial motion that was not circular.(ellipse)
 Kepler suggested there was some magnetic force emanating from the Sun

Galileo:
o Moon features (mountains)
o Sun rotates (≈ Month)
o Venus : phases like the moon
o Jupiter has moons
o North star really far away
o Sagittarius: stars are very very far there are millions
Newton’s Laws of Motion:
1. Law of Inertia ( Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist changes in its velocity:
whether in motion or motionless) Inertia: the tendency of an object to resist changes
in its state of motion
2. F=m.a (proves that different masses accelerate to the earth at the same rate ,but with
different forces, but they don’t hit the ground with the same force)( more force means
more acceleration – more mass less acceleration)
3. Action –Reaction (for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction) (when 2
objects interact with each other, each exerts a force on the other)

Apparent weight:
 a = 0 normal weight
 The man feels heavier than normal while accelerating upward a (Greater than
normal weight)
 Less than normal weight a
  A = g zero weight (free fall)
 All objects in the universe attract each other by the force of gravity.
 Gravity varies depending on two factors: 1) The mass of the object doing the pulling, and
2) The distance from the center of that object
 Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation
– Fgravity = G x m1m2
2
d
 The closer a planet is to the Sun in its orbit, the faster it is moving. It moves
fastest at perihelion and slowest at aphelion.
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