Physics 106b – Problem Set 8 – Due Jan 14, 2005

Version 2

January 13, 2005

These problems cover the material on central forces, gravitational orbits, and scattering in Hand
and Finch Chapter 4 and Section 4 of the lecture notes. Please continue to write down roughly
how much time you are spending on each problem.
Corrections:

• Problem 3: There is ambiguity in what is the correct polar formula to use. See the problem.

For the 1/r potential, the notes use G µ M as the constant coefficient; this is generalized to k
in some of the problems below. That is, all the Keplerian formulae in the notes apply with the
substitution G µ M → k.
Don’t let the length scare you; the length is in the hints.

1. (a variant on Goldstein 3.18) A particle is in an elliptical gravitational orbit with semimajor

axis a and eccentricity . The orbit is aligned as discussed in class, with the perigee (point of
closes approach to the center of mass at the origin) along the +x axis.

(a) At the moment it reaches perigee, the particle experiences an impulse S in the radial
direction. (Recall, the impulse S is the change in the momentum due to a force that
is exerted for an infinitesimally short time.) The particle is thereby forced onto a new
elliptical orbit. Which orbit parameters are left constant by the impulse? Which ones
change? In addition to the orbit parameters we have explicitly discussed, consider the
orbit orientation (the angle φ which obtains rmin .
(b) Now suppose that the impulse at perigee is exactly tangential (perpendicular to the
radial direction and along the velocity vector at perigee). Again, which orbit parameters
are left constant and which ones change? Consider the orientation again also.

You do not have to explicitly calculate all the new orbit parameters, but you must provide
enough explanation to justify your choice of fixed and changing parameters. Can you think
of an application of these results to designing course corrections for satellites?

2. (a variant on Hand and Finch 4.24/Goldstein 3.21) Show that the motion of a particle in the
potential field
k β
U (r) = − + 2
r r
results in a precessing orbit of the form
p
= 1 +  cos αφ
r

1
 (Derive this result; i.e., the goal is not to just check that the precessing form is correct, but
to derive it.) Assuming the additional potential term is small compared to the Keplerian
potential and the centrifugal energy term, show that the angular speed of precession of the
orbit is
µβ
Ω̇ = 2π 2
lφ τ
where τ is the period of the elliptical orbit.
3. (variant on Hand and Finch 4.30/Goldstein 3.13): Characteristics of a F = −k/r5 potential:
(a) Suppose a particle is subject to a central force F (r) = −k/rn . Let the particle’s orbit
describe a circle of radius r0 that passes through the center of force (the origin). Show
that this implies n = 5.
(b) Find the total energy E of this particular orbit.
(c) Find the period of the orbit.
(d) Find the velocity components ẋ and ẏ and the magnitude v as a function of the stan-
dard orbital angle φ and demonstrate that all three quantities become infinite when the
particle passes through the origin.
Hints:
• You have two choices for which polar orbit equation to use. The first is
q
r(φ) = r0 2 (1 + cos 2φ)
The above equation is always positive, so when multiplied by cos φ to find x(φ), one gets
x < 0 for part of the orbit, which contradicts the problem. It works because the x < 0
part of the orbit is a mirror image of the x > 0 part.
The second choice of polar orbit is
r(φ) = 2 r0 cos φ
This gives the correct x(φ) and y(φ) signs. But it allows r < 0, which is not, strictly
speaking, allowed. You may use whichever form you prefer. The point of the problem is
to find the right technique for proving n = 5, it won’t matter which one you use.
• You should find it necessary to calculate u = 1/r and its derivatives du/dφ and d2 u/dφ2 .
It is a bit of heavy algebra to calculate them, so they are provided here. The two forms
are completely equivalent (as one can show).
p
First form(for r(φ) = r0 2 (1 + cos 2φ)):
du
= 2 r02 u3 sin 2φ
dφ
d2 u
= 2 r02 u3 (3 − cos 2φ)
dφ2
Second form (for r(φ) = 2 r0 cos φ):
du
= (2 r0 )2 u3 sin φ cos φ
dφ
d2 u  
= (2 r0 )2 u3 1 + sin2 φ
dφ2
You are not required to calculate the derivatives explicitly, you may use these formulae.

2
4. (variant on Goldstein 3.32) A central force potential frequently encountered in nuclear physics
is the rectangular well, defined by

V = 0 r>a
= −V0 r≤a

(a) Show that the scattering produced by such a potential in classical mechanics is identical
with the refraction of light rays by a sphere of radius a and relative index of refraction
s
E + V0
n=
E

(This equivalence demonstrates why it was possible to explain refraction phenomena by

Huygen’s waves and Newton’s mechanical corpuscles.)
(b) Let the angles by which a particle’s path is rotated when it enters the well be α∗ and
when it leaves the well be β∗ . β∗ is not the angle between the incoming and outgoing
velocities; it is the angle between the outgoing velocity and the velocity while traversing
the well. Find formulae relating α∗ and β∗ to the incoming particle impact parameter
(and the various parameters of the problem, E, V0 , and a). Show that these two angles
are identical. If you can demonstrate that α∗ = β∗ without finding separate formulae
for the two, feel free to do so.
(c) What is the total cross section? Don’t make this harder than it is.

Hint: Make use of the optical analogy for doing parts (b) and (c)!
Note: One could work from the results of part (b) to demonstrate that the differential cross
section is
  
θ∗ θ∗
dσ n2 a2 n cos 2 −1 n − cos 2
= 2
dΩ 4 cos θ2∗

1 + n2 − 2 n cos θ2∗

(where θ∗ = 2α∗ is the overall scattering angle), but you are not required to do so (pretty
grungy algebra).