Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-1-paper-of-the-university-of-oxford/2022/4/b/solution

Take . At a radial turning point, , and the effective potential gives
For , the smaller positive radial turning point is conveniently written without division by :
This includes , where . For there is also an outer radial turning point; the two coincide for the circular orbit at . Smaller energies are inaccessible at that . For there is just one positive radial turning point. If , there is no centrifugal barrier and an inward trajectory can reach the singular centre; its limiting closest distance is zero.
The requested omission of is not possible. For example, at and fixed nonzero , doubling halves . Thus alone cannot determine closest approach.

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