June 5, 1998

Using the universal law of gravitation with Newton’s second law and the formula for centripetal acceleration, we find for a particle of mass m in a circular orbit of radius r around a sphere of mass M an energy, kinetic energy, and gravitational potential energy given by, F=GMm/r2 =mv2/r ( K = ½ mv2 = ½ (GMm/r) U = -GMm/r ................
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