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11.1MotionofObjects
CalculuswasinventedbyIsaacNewtonwhowastryingtounderstandthemotionofplanetsandtheirorbitsaroundthesun,as
wellasthemotionofanythingelse.Keplerhadputtogethertheastronomicaldataofthattime,andhaddeducedhisthreelaws
fromit.

Planetshadellipticalorbits,Keplerhadnoted.Healsofoundthattheareasweptoutbythemotionofplanet(inthesortof
trianglewhosecornersarethelocationofthesunandthepositionoftheplanetattwotimesseparatedbytimedt)isaconstant
independentofwheretheplanetisinitsorbit.Finally,hefoundarelationbetweenameasureofthesizeoftheorbit,andthe
periodofthemotionaroundthesun.

Newton'saimwastoconstructamodelforthemotionoftheplanetsthatwouldleadtotheresultsfoundfromthedataby
Kepler.

Hegottheneatideathatabody,andthatheremeansaplanet,wouldkeepongoingstraightaheadatconstantspeed,ifleft
strictlyalone.Sothatthederivativeoftheplanet'spositionwithrespecttotime,whichisitsvelocity,wouldbeconstant,ifthe
sundidnotactonit.

Anotherwaytosaythesamethingisthatintheabsenceofthesun,thederivativeofthevelocityoftheplanet,which
derivativeiscalledtheaccelerationoftheplanet,wouldbezero.

Hedevelopedtheideathatthesunexertsa"force"ontheplanet,whichforcechangestheaccelerationoftheplanetin
proportionaltotheforce.

Hewasabletoshowthatiftheforceontheplanetwasdirectedtowardthesun,andwasproportionaltothereciprocalofthe
squareofthedistanceoftheplanettothesun,theresultingexpressionforthesecondderivativeofthepositionoftheplanet
couldbesolved,andtheequationshavesolutionsinwhichtheorbitoftheplanetisellipticalandequalareasaresweptoutby
theplanetsmotioninanytimeintervalofgivensize.

Healsoshowedthatiftheforceontheplanetwasproportionaltothe"mass"oftheplanet,(whichisthefactorrelatingthe
forcetotheacceleration:asinF=ma,withFtheforce,mthemassoftheobjectandaitsacceleration,thesecondderivative
ofitsposition)thenthethirdofKepler'slawsalsoholds.ThisledNewtontohislawofgravity:thatbodiesattractoneanother
withaforceproportionaltothemassesofeachandinversetothesquareoftheirdistance.

WewillnotdiscussthedetailsofNewton'sargumenthere,becausethemotionisinspace,andpositionandvelocityand
accelerationrequiremorethanonenumbertodescribeeachofthem,sothatwewouldfirsthavetodiscusshowtodefinehow
torepresenttheseentities.

Healsoshowedthatthemotionofobjectsthrownordroppedcouldbededuced,inthismodel,fromthealmostconstant
gravitationalattractionoftheearthontheobjects.
TheobservationofGalileothatobjectsofdifferentweightsfall,toafirstapproximation(ignoringtheeffectsofairresistance)
atthesamespeeds,alsofollowsfromNewton'slawofgravity,amongmanyotherthings.

Ifwerepresenttheheightofanobjectfromsomegivenbaselineash(t)withtheargumenttgivenbythetime,startingat
somegiventime,theeffectsoftheearth'sgravitationonitwillobeytheequation

wheregisaconstant,calledthegravitationalconstant,andmisthemassoftheobject.

ThisistheequationforthebehaviorofafallingobjectaccordingtoNewton'smodelofgravitation.

Inthisparticularcase,wecandeducetheconsequencesofthismodelquiteeasily.

Thistellsusthattheacceleration,whichisthederivativeofthespeedoftheobject,isconstant.Whatfunctionshaveaconstant
gastheirderivative?
Youwillrecallthattakingthederivativeofapolynomiallowersthepowerofeachofitstermsby1,andmultipliesitbythe
power.Theanswerweseekis:anyfunctionoftheformgt+cwillhavegasitsderivativewithrespecttovariablet.

Thenextquestionis,whatfunction,h(t)hasgt+casitsderivative?

Theanswertothisis ,whered,likecisaconstantthatyoumustdeterminefromtheinitialconditionsonyour

specificproblem.

Ingeneral,theplanfordescribingaphenomenonistoemulateNewton:
Firstfindsomeequationsinvolvingderivativeswithwhichtodescribethebehaviorofthesystem.
Thenworkouttheconsequencesofthemodel,byworkingbackwardsfromthederivativestothefunctionitself.

Andwhybotherwithderivatives?Becausethebehaviorofsystemsintheirlinearapproximationismuchmuchsimplerthan
theirordinarybehaviorafterareasonablelengthoftime.Creatingmodelsforthebehaviorofderivatives,hereofsecond
derivatives,isincrediblyeasierthancreatingdirectmodelsforgeneralbehavior.

Eveninthissimplecase,themodelforthesecondderivativeinvolvesonlyauniversalconstant,g,whiletomodelheight
versustimedirectlyrequirestwoadditionalparametersandaquadraticfunction.

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