Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-1-paper-of-the-university-of-oxford/2014/11/b/solution
Past exam of the physics 1 paper of the University of Oxford 2014 11 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Write and let be the original circular orbital speed. An impulse leaves the orbital angular momentum unchanged if it is radial: its angular impulse is zero. The tangential velocity remains , and an added radial component givesThus kinetic energy increases even though angular momentum does not. For a Radial kick from a circular Kepler orbit, the new specific orbital energy and squared specific angular momentum areThe orbital eccentricity is , while the semi-latus rectum is . HenceFor the trajectory is a parabolic Kepler orbit and has no finite furthest radius; its periapsis is . For it is a hyperbolic orbit, with the same formula for but unbounded radius:One must not use the negative denominator in the bound-orbit expression as a negative physical apocentre. On a departing unbound branch the conic's periapsis may already lie in the past; the future minimum from the kick event is then . These are ideal conic orbits; a periapsis inside a real planet would cause impact before the ideal continuation.
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