Cannonball's orbit

A cannonball was fired from the surface of Earth with a velocity of 12 k m s 12\dfrac{km}{s} perpendicular to the surface of Earth.

If e 1 e_1 is the eccentricity of the conic section formed by it's orbit. Find 10 e 1 \lfloor 10 e_1\rfloor

Assume that :

  • M a s s o f E a r t h ( M ) = 5.972 × 1 0 24 K g Mass\space of\space Earth\space (M_⊕) = 5.972\times 10^{24}Kg

  • R a d i u s o f E a r t h ( R ) = 6.371 × 1 0 6 m Radius\space of\space Earth\space (R_⊕) = 6.371\times 10^6 m

  • U n i v e r s a l G r a v i t a t i o n a l C o n s t a n t ( G ) = 6.6743 × 1 0 11 N m 2 K g 2 Universal\space Gravitational\space Constant\space (G)=6.6743\times 10^{-11}N\dfrac{m^2}{Kg^2}

  • \lfloor \cdot \rfloor is the floor function

  • Only Gravitational forces are involved


The answer is 13.

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2 solutions

Zakir Husain
Jun 4, 2021

I f v e s c a p e i s t h e e s c a p e v e l o c i t y a t t h e l a u n c h i n g s i t e If\space v_{escape}\space is\space the\space escape\space velocity\space at\space the\space launching\space site v e s c a p e = 2 G M R 1.1186 × 1 0 4 m s 1 \Rightarrow v_{escape}=\sqrt{2\dfrac{GM_⊕}{R_⊕}}\approx 1.1186 \times 10^4 ms^{-1} v > v e s c a p e . . . . . . . . . . . [ 1 ] ( v = 1.2 × 1 0 4 m s 1 ) \Rightarrow v>v_{escape}...........[1]\space\blue{(v=1.2\times 10^4 ms^{-1})} F r o m K e p l e r s f i r s t l a w w e k n o w t h a t From\space Kepler's\space first\space law\space we\space know\space that t h e s h a p e o f t h e o r b i t c a n the\space shape\space of\space the\space orbit\space can b e d e s c r i b e d b y t h e f o l l o w i n g p o l a r e q u a t i o n : be\space described\space by\space the\space following \space polar\space equation: r = l 1 + e 1 cos θ . . . . . . . . . . [ 2 ] r=\dfrac{l}{1+e_1\cos\theta}..........[2] i f l = q 2 p , e 1 = 1 q 2 p 2 if\space l=\dfrac{q^2}{p},e_1=\sqrt{1-\dfrac{q^2}{p^2}} t h e n f r o m h e r e w e k n o w t h a t then \space from \space here \space we\space know\space that p = R G M 2 G M R v 2 2.1118 × 1 0 7 m p=\dfrac{R_{⊕}GM_⊕}{2GM_⊕-R_⊕v^2}\approx -2.1118\times 10^7 m A l s o w e k n o w t h a t i n [ 2 ] Also\space we\space know\space that\space in\space [2] R = q 2 p + p 2 q 2 R_{⊕}=\dfrac{q^2}{p+\sqrt{p^2-q^2}} q 4 q 2 ( 2 p R R 2 ) = 0 \Rightarrow q^4-q^2(2pR_⊕-R^2_⊕)=0 q 2 = 0 e 1 = 1 v = v e s c a p e \because q^2=0\iff e_1=1 \iff v=v_{escape} [ 1 ] q 2 = 2 p R R 2 3.097 × 1 0 14 m 2 \therefore [1]\Rightarrow q^2=2pR_⊕-R^2_⊕\approx -3.097×10^{14}m^2 e 1 = 1 q 2 p 2 1.3016 \Rightarrow e_1=\sqrt{1-\dfrac{q^2}{p^2}}\approx 1.3016 10 e 1 = 13.016 = 13 \Rightarrow \lfloor 10e_1\rfloor =\lfloor 13.016\rfloor=13

Bonus Problem : Generalize the case for any orbiting object with negligible size which was launched with a velocity v , \vec{v}, at a distance of r r from a planet and that we know (only) the following values :

  • Universal Gravitational Constant

  • Mass of planet

  • r , v r,|\vec{v}|

  • And angle between v \vec{v} and the line joining the center of the planet and the orbiting object

Also assume that mass of the orbiting object is very - very smaller than the mass of the planet.

Zakir Husain - 1 week, 1 day ago
Karan Chatrath
Jun 4, 2021

Let the center of the earch have the coordinates ( 0 , 0 ) (0,0) . The X axis points horizontally to the right while the Y axis points vertically up. The cannonball is projected tangentially to the surface of the earth and not perpendicular to the surface of the earth. Please edit the problem statement. At any general time t t , let the position vector of the ball with respect to the origin be:

r = x i ^ + y j ^ + z k ^ \vec{r} = x \ \hat{i} + y \ \hat{j} + z \ \hat{k}

Now, applying Newton's law of gravitation leads to:

d 2 r d t 2 = G M r r 3 \frac{d^2 \vec{r}}{dt^2}=-\frac{GM \vec{r}}{\lvert \vec{r} \rvert^3}

r ( 0 ) = R j ^ \vec{r}(0) = R \ \hat{j} d r ( 0 ) d t = v o i ^ \frac{d\vec{r}(0)}{dt} = v_o \ \hat{i}

Let us introduce a change of variables as such:

p = R r \vec{p} = R \vec{r}

This transforms the equations of motion to:

d 2 p d t 2 = G M R 3 ( p p 3 ) \frac{d^2 \vec{p}}{dt^2}=-\frac{GM}{R^3}\left(\frac{ \vec{p}}{\lvert \vec{p} \rvert^3}\right)

Let us introduce a new time scale t 1 t_1 such that:

t = λ t 1 t = \lambda t_1

d p d t = d p d t 1 d t 1 d t \implies \frac{d\vec{p}}{dt} = \frac{d\vec{p}}{dt_1} \frac{dt_1}{dt} d p d t = 1 λ d p d t 1 \frac{d\vec{p}}{dt} = \frac{1}{\lambda} \frac{d\vec{p}}{dt_1}

Now:

d 2 p d t 2 = d d t ( d p d t ) = d d t ( 1 λ d p d t 1 ) = d d t 1 ( 1 λ d p d t 1 ) d t 1 d t \frac{d^2\vec{p}}{dt^2} = \frac{d}{dt} \left(\frac{d\vec{p}}{dt} \right) = \frac{d}{dt} \left( \frac{1}{\lambda} \frac{d\vec{p}}{dt_1} \right) =\frac{d}{dt_1} \left( \frac{1}{\lambda} \frac{d\vec{p}}{dt_1} \right) \frac{dt_1}{dt} d 2 p d t 2 = 1 λ 2 d 2 p d t 1 2 \implies \frac{d^2\vec{p}}{dt^2} = \frac{1}{\lambda^2} \frac{d^2\vec{p}}{dt_1^2}

Plugging this into the equation of motion leads to:

d 2 p d t 2 = G M R 3 ( p p 3 ) \frac{d^2 \vec{p}}{dt^2}=-\frac{GM}{R^3}\left(\frac{ \vec{p}}{\lvert \vec{p} \rvert^3}\right) 1 λ 2 d 2 p d t 1 2 = G M R 3 ( p p 3 ) \frac{1}{\lambda^2} \frac{d^2\vec{p}}{dt_1^2}=-\frac{GM}{R^3}\left(\frac{ \vec{p}}{\lvert \vec{p} \rvert^3}\right)

Taking:

λ 2 = R 3 G M \lambda^2 = \frac{R^3}{GM}

converts the equation of motion to:

d 2 p d t 1 2 = ( p p 3 ) \frac{d^2\vec{p}}{dt_1^2}=-\left(\frac{ \vec{p}}{\lvert \vec{p} \rvert^3}\right)

The initial conditions also need to be scaled appropriately, which are originally:

r ( 0 ) = R j ^ \vec{r}(0) = R \ \hat{j} d r ( 0 ) d t = v o i ^ \frac{d\vec{r}(0)}{dt} = v_o \ \hat{i}

p ( 0 ) = 1 j ^ \implies \vec{p}(0) = 1 \ \hat{j} d r ( 0 ) d t = R d p ( 0 ) d t = v o i ^ \implies \frac{d\vec{r}(0)}{dt} =R \frac{d\vec{p}(0)}{dt} = v_o \ \hat{i} d p ( 0 ) d t = v o R i ^ \implies \frac{d\vec{p}(0)}{dt} = \frac{v_o}{R} \ \hat{i} d p ( 0 ) d t = 1 λ d p ( 0 ) d t 1 = v o R i ^ \implies \frac{d\vec{p}(0)}{dt} = \frac{1}{\lambda} \frac{d\vec{p}(0)}{dt_1} = \frac{v_o}{R} \ \hat{i} d p ( 0 ) d t 1 = R 3 G M ( v o R ) i ^ \implies \frac{d\vec{p}(0)}{dt_1} = \sqrt{\frac{R^3}{GM}} \left(\frac{v_o}{R}\right) \ \hat{i}

Finally, the rescaled equation of motion is:

d 2 p d t 1 2 = ( p p 3 ) \frac{d^2\vec{p}}{dt_1^2}=-\left(\frac{ \vec{p}}{\lvert \vec{p} \rvert^3}\right) p ( 0 ) = 1 j ^ \vec{p}(0) = 1 \ \hat{j} d p ( 0 ) d t 1 = R 3 G M ( v o R ) i ^ \frac{d\vec{p}(0)}{dt_1} = \sqrt{\frac{R^3}{GM}} \left(\frac{v_o}{R}\right) \ \hat{i}

This set of ODEs has been solved numerically using a script of code which will be attached to the end of this solution.

The resulting trajectory is a hyperbola. This is established by the fact that the trajectory becomes a straight line as it moves further away from the earth. This corresponds to the trajectory converging to the asymptote of the hyperbola. The magnitude of the slope of the asymptote is:

m = a b m=\lvert \frac{a}{b} \rvert \]

Where a a and b b are the semi axes of the hyperbola. The eccentricity of the hyperbola is:

e = 1 + 1 m 2 1.3 e=\sqrt{1 +\frac{1}{m^2}} \approx 1.3

The required answer is 13 \boxed{13} . The scrip of code created on OCTAVE is as follows.

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clear all
clc

% Parameters:
G       = 6.6743*10^(-11);
R       = 6.371*10^6;
M       = 5.972*10^(24);

% Projection speed:
vo      = 12000;

% Scaled initial conditions:
dx(1)   = vo*sqrt(R^3/(G*M))/R;
dy(1)   = 0;

x(1)    = 0;
y(1)    = 1;

% Time step and time vector initialisation:
dt      = 1e-5;
tf      = 50;
t       = 0:dt:tf;

% Solving the equation of motion numerically:
for k = 1:length(t)-1

    % Scaled position vector:
    p         = [x(k);y(k);0];

    % Equation of motion:
    ddr       = -p/(norm(p)^3);

    % Extracting acceleration components:
    ddx       = ddr(1);
    ddy       = ddr(2);

    % Numerical integration - Semi implicit Euler:
    dx(k+1)   = dx(k) + ddx*dt;
    dy(k+1)   = dy(k) + ddy*dt;

    x(k+1)    = x(k) + dx(k+1)*dt;
    y(k+1)    = y(k) + dy(k+1)*dt;

end

% PLotting actual trajectory (By rescaling back to original coordinates):
plot(x*R,y*R,'Linewidth',1.5)
grid on
xlabel('X [m]')
ylabel('Y [m]')
title('Cannonball Trajectory')

% Calculating slop of hyperbla asymptote:
m       = (y(end)-y(end-1))/(x(end)-x(end-1));

% Calculating eccentricity:
e       = sqrt(1 + (1/m)^2);
ANSWER  = floor(10*e)

% ANSWER = 13

Good but a big solution

Zakir Husain - 1 week, 1 day ago

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Thank you. Indeed, the solution is large. Understandably so, because my solution uses no pre derived results/formulas. It only uses Newton's law of gravitation as prior knowledge (apart from the results relevant to the geometry of a hyperbola). Besides, I do not know how to analytically solve the resulting system of differential equations, so I had to introduce new length and time scales to make the problem numerically well conditioned.

Karan Chatrath - 1 week, 1 day ago

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But you also used Kepler's first law, since you must assume that the curve is a conic section before your following argument:

"The resulting trajectory is a hyperbola. This is established by the fact that the trajectory becomes a straight line as it moves further away from the earth"

Zakir Husain - 1 week, 1 day ago

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@Zakir Husain Actually, I have not. I used the fact that the curve is a conic. To establish that the trajectory eventually becomes a straight line, I ran the simulation for different durations of scaled time. I made sure that the durations are sufficiently large, by trial and error. For each simulation, I calculated the slope of the line as per line 54 of my code. For different large durations, I could see that the slope does not change (barely changes). The only conic that shows such asymptotic behaviour is a hyperbola.

I did not include these intermediate steps that led me to this conclusion. But by no means have I directly invoked Kepler's first law. I have tried to solve this using the first principle alone. And of course with numerics. I am trying by myself to see how this problem can be tackled analytically using Lagrangian mechanics. I may update my solution or post a follow up problem depending on whether and how I figure it out.

Karan Chatrath - 1 week, 1 day ago

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@Karan Chatrath The fact that the curve is conic this is what we call modified version of Kepler's first law :

" A l l b o d i e s m o v i n g a r o u n d a l a r g e m a s s f o r m s o r b i t w h i c h a r e c o n i c s e c t i o n s . " "All\space bodies\space moving\space around\space a\space large\space mass\space forms\space orbit\space which\space are\space conic\space sections."

Zakir Husain - 1 week, 1 day ago

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@Zakir Husain Okay, I see your point. My solution indeed does not prove that the trajectory is a conic. It exploits the fact that it is.

Looking forward to the note. I'll try and reproduce the results using my approach.

Karan Chatrath - 1 week, 1 day ago

@Karan Chatrath I am going to post a note (maybe soon) for the bonus problem (general case)

Zakir Husain - 1 week, 1 day ago

@Karan Chatrath I am not able to see the option for uploading the problem.Can you see that ?? . They said till 2 July?

Talulah Riley - 2 days, 17 hours ago

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Even I do not see that option anymore.

Karan Chatrath - 2 days, 17 hours ago

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@Karan Chatrath That was such a good feature just to share solution and problems to the people living around the world .
And that was the best feature .
It is like a human body without heart.

Talulah Riley - 2 days, 17 hours ago

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