Timeline for Elliptical Trajectory, or Parabolic?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
20 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 12, 2017 at 20:27 | answer | added | Guill | timeline score: 0 | |
| Dec 9, 2017 at 4:44 | answer | added | Ross Millikan | timeline score: 2 | |
| Dec 8, 2017 at 19:22 | comment | added | Todd Wilcox | If you really want to get pedantic, in "idealized" conditions the trajectory of a body under the influence of a single gravity field that can be modeled by a point mass is neither an ellipse nor parabola, but a geodesic. The math for geodesics is not that easy, so often we use an ellipse to model an orbit. An ellipse is not a function in one variable, so for short enough trajectories we simplify even further and use a parabola (which is a function in one variable) to model the trajectory. A parabola is an accurate enough model to hit targets with cannons and mortars, so it is used often. | |
| Dec 8, 2017 at 14:54 | vote | accept | stoic-santiago | ||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 14:54 | vote | accept | stoic-santiago | ||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 14:54 | |||||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 14:34 | vote | accept | stoic-santiago | ||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 14:54 | |||||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 14:31 | answer | added | J. Manuel | timeline score: 9 | |
| Dec 8, 2017 at 13:17 | comment | added | Peter - Reinstate Monica | If the distance is short enough "straight line" is a good enough approximation of any curve to shoot somebody dead. So the question is actually "what is the real curve?", and the answer is "not pretty". Another question could be "what would the real trajectory of a projectile be in a universe with just a homogeneous spherical planet in vacuum, assuming the gun is massless?" | |
| Dec 8, 2017 at 8:39 | vote | accept | stoic-santiago | ||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 14:34 | |||||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 8:30 | vote | accept | stoic-santiago | ||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 8:39 | |||||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 8:22 | history | protected | Qmechanic♦ | ||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 8:22 | history | edited | Qmechanic♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
edited body; edited tags
|
| Dec 8, 2017 at 8:18 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackPhysics/status/939046436590837760 | ||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 7:27 | comment | added | user87745 | The answer is that a very small portion of a curve that is not just a line, e.g. an ellipse, looks like a small portion of a parabola. This question already has an answer here: physics.stackexchange.com/q/97716/20427 | |
| Dec 8, 2017 at 6:45 | vote | accept | stoic-santiago | ||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 8:30 | |||||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 6:40 | vote | accept | stoic-santiago | ||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 6:45 | |||||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 6:36 | answer | added | rob♦ | timeline score: 33 | |
| Dec 8, 2017 at 4:45 | vote | accept | stoic-santiago | ||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 6:40 | |||||
| Dec 8, 2017 at 4:43 | answer | added | mmesser314 | timeline score: 19 | |
| Dec 8, 2017 at 4:23 | history | asked | stoic-santiago | CC BY-SA 3.0 |