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Mistake?
editI think there was a mistake in the energy and eccentricity formulas. You need to have m^2 and not m to be coherent. Kilohn_limahn, 8/2/2007
- Hi Kilohn, thanks for checking the formula! :) However, I think there might be a mistake. In this problem k has units of [energy length], as you can see from the formula V = -k/r. So k2 has units of [energy2 length2]. The angular momentum L has units of [mass speed length], so that L2/m has units of [mass speed2 length2]. Therefore, k2 m/L2 has units of [energy2 / mass speed2] = [energy2/energy] = [energy], as it should be. The eccentricity is a dimensionless number. Hoping that this article has been useful for you, and that you'll join us here at Wikipedia :) Willow 11:49, 3 August 2007 (UTC)
There was a mistake in the "expansion of the first term" as was missing L^2 / m terms on right hand side. There is also an error in the differentiation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by BlueSpecs (talk • contribs) 13:10, 14 November 2012 (UTC)
Merge proposal opposed
editThis is to oppose the recent merge proposal: discussion is offered here. Terry0051 (talk) 00:04, 29 November 2009 (UTC)
So... what's the solution?
editThe "problem" to be solved is to find the position or speed of the two bodies over time given their masses and initial positions and velocities. Using classical mechanics, the solution can be expressed as a Kepler orbit using six orbital elements.
All of the math in the article provides no solution as stated above, neither position and velocity, nor orbital elements. Tfr000 (talk)