Presented here is an adaptation of George Gamow's derivation of the centripetal acceleration formula as it applies to Earth's orbiting Moon. The derivation appears in Gamows short but engaging book Gravity,1 first published in 1962, and is essentially a distillation of Newton's work. While TPT contributors have offered several insightful derivations of the formula,2,3 students might find this “real world” version more accessible. In addition, this particular derivation requires a durable understanding of both the Galilean equations and Newtonian laws of motion, and therefore serves as review of these key concepts.
REFERENCES
1.
2.
Ernest
Zebrowski
Jr., “On the derivation of the centripetal acceleration formula
,” Phys. Teach.
10
, 527
–528
(Dec. 1972
).3.
Bill
Wedemeyer
, “Centripetal acceleration-A simpler derivation
,” Phys. Teach.
31
, 238
–239
(April 1993
).© 2012 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2012
American Association of Physics Teachers
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