Use the Lagrange multiplier condition for :Neither coordinate can vanish at a constrained stationary point: either would force both to vanish, contradicting the constraint. Substitution therefore gives , so or . In either case , givingEqual signs give the two points attaining the global maximum ; opposite signs give the two global minima with . These exhaust the extrema because the ellipse is compact, its constraint gradient never vanishes on it, and is smooth. The bound can also be checked by setting , : then and , so .
Inverting gives , hence the elliptic coordinatesEliminating at fixed gives the ellipseIts focal distance is . At fixed , eliminating instead gives the hyperbolaIts focal distance is also one, so both families have foci . A fixed traces an appropriate half of the hyperbola; complementary coordinate values complete it. Degenerate values give the focal segment and portions of the coordinate axes. Away from these degeneracies the curves are orthogonal by part (i), or by in the displayed parametrization. A branch of the inverse is used locally; its real part with is single-valued outside the focal segment.
On the specified ellipse, the semiaxes are and , so its elliptic coordinate is . Thus in the exterior,is a harmonic function with a homogeneous Dirichlet boundary condition on that ellipse. Choose the square root with at infinity. Although a global complex logarithm requires a cut, its real part is well defined throughout the exterior and gives the same .
The azimuthal vector is automatically orthogonal to the other two. Their remaining dot product isThus orthogonal coordinates require , which integrates to . The initial value gives , and the smooth branch with isThe corresponding coordinate-vector norms are and , as in the hyperbolic parametrization of prolate spheroidal coordinates. Coordinate degeneracies on the axis and focal segment are understood.
Eliminating the angular coordinates on the requested surface givesIt is a prolate spheroid with long axis , equatorial radius , polar semiaxis , and foci .
In the orthonormal basis of part (b), the three quadric surfaces have the following forms. For ,a two-sheeted hyperboloid with axis , vertices , and one sheet on each side of the plane . For ,an elliptic cone with vertex at the origin and the same axis. For ,a one-sheet hyperboloid with axis and a waist ellipse at , whose semiaxes are along and along . The sections at fixed enlarge away from the waist.
The two-sheeted hyperboloid, elliptic cone and one-sheet hyperboloid in separate orthonormal coordinate frames
. Details. Take an incident field along , without loss of generality because this component has the same circular eigenmodes for every direction of input linear polarization. Resolve its Jones vector into equal circular components:Using the complex amplitude convention , the real circular contributions areThey counter-rotate and add toIn general the tip traces an ellipse with semiaxis lengths and . Equal transmitted circular wave amplitudes produce a line; removal of one circular mode, or , produces a circle. The special zero-output case has no defined polarization of waves.
When are real, and are real. The two opposite circular polarizations retain their wave phases but are attenuated at different wave amplitude rates. This circular dichroism changes the ellipticity without rotating the principal axis of the ellipse.
For input , the corrected Jones matrix givesThe common factor describes the mea wave amplitude attenuation. The factor reflects the sum of the two transmitted modal wave amplitudes; fixes their imbalance and hence the signed ellipticity. The real field has components proportional to and , soThe ellipse's principal axis stays along the original input direction. For large differential optical depth it approaches the less attenuated circular eigenmode. A passive medium has , or , so the growing hyperbolic function factor does not imply net optical gain. Using the printed prefactor would give a spurious extra attenuation inconsistent with the modal laws.
The two positive powers below require ; the negative power requires , so that the force is attractive. To leading order, . The azimuthal advance from one radial maximum to the next isFor , : there are two radial oscillations per revolution. The isotropic harmonic oscillator has orbits that are exact ellipses centred on the force centre, and the perturbed circle is such an ellipse.
For , : the leading perturbation has three radial lobes per revolution, with consecutive radial maxima separated by . Its small-amplitude sketch is a rounded three-lobed orbit.
For , : the radius completes one oscillation while the body makes two revolutions. The leading curve closes after , with a double-wound, generally self-crossing shape; the nearest and furthest points occur in the same spatial direction one revolution apart.
The rational ratios for and describe closure of the linearized near-circular curves. They do not imply that every finite-amplitude orbit closes exactly: higher-order changes in the radial-to-orbital frequency ratio generally produce apsidal precession. Bertrand's theorem identifies the harmonic potential and the Kepler potential as the exceptional attractive central potentials with all nearby bounded orbits closed.
Let be the orbiting point mass's position relative to the attracting body, and let its velocity be . Its angular momentum isConservation of angular momentum keeps both the magnitude and direction of fixed. Since is perpendicular to , a nonradial orbit lies in a fixed plane. During a short interval , the radius vector sweeps a thin triangle of areaThus the areal velocity is constant:Equal time intervals give equal swept areas: this is Kepler's second law. In plane polar coordinates, the same statement is and . The attracting body is at the relevant focus of the ellipse, not its geometric centre. The area argument needs conserved angular momentum, not specifically an ellipse; a central force provides this conservation because its torque vanishes.
Adding tangential velocity along the existing motion increases both orbital energy and angular momentum:For a sufficiently small kick the Kepler orbit remains an ellipse. At the kick point its radial velocity vanishes and its tangential speed exceeds the circular orbital speed, so that point becomes the pericentre. The ellipse extends farther outward than the original circle.
The inward radial kick also leaves angular momentum unchanged and increases orbital energy by . Its eccentricity and semi-major axis equal those in case , but the orientation of its eccentricity vector is reflected about the initial radius. The satellite initially moves inward on its ellipse, toward pericentre. Neither radial kick decreases the orbital energy.
For a satellite of mass moving in the Newtonian gravitational field of a much larger, effectively fixed mass , put . Its conserved mechanical energy, with gravitational potential energy zero at infinity, isHere is the instantaneous centre-to-centre distance, the satellite's speed, the gravitational constant, and the semi-major axis of its bound elliptic orbit. The kinetic energy and potential energy vary around the orbit, while their sum remains constant. Dividing by and solving for gives the vis-viva equation, .
For this Hohmann transfer orbit, the periapsis and apoapsis distances are and , soThe vis-viva equation gives the endpoint speedsAs a check, conservation of angular momentum at the two endpoints gives because each velocity is perpendicular to its radius. Using and gives andThe departure impulse must increase the speed in the direction of the initial circular orbit:These are Sun-centred speeds; leaving the Earth's own gravitational field would require an additional calculation beyond this idealized solar orbit transfer.
At , the desired circular orbit speed is . The arrival impulse is thereforeThe required thrust on the spacecraft is forward, tangent to its orbit, to accelerate it. The rocket ejects exhaust backwards, opposite to the spacecraft's velocity; this distinguishes the direction of thrust from the direction in which the exhaust is fired.
The Hohmann transfer time is half the orbital period of the transfer ellipse. From Kepler's third law, relative to the Earth's one-year orbital period,Meanwhile Mars's orbital period is . The spacecraft arrives radians from its departure position. For a rendezvous, Mars must reach that same position after advancing through . Thus its initial lead angle over the departing spacecraft isMars must be ahead by this angle in the common direction of motion around their orbits. At departure the spacecraft and the Earth share the inner orbital position; arrival occurs on the opposite side of the Sun.
Choose the orientation . To leading order in the radial disturbance, the azimuthal angular frequency is , soFor either orientation the positive frequency ratio is . At , the ratio is : there is one radial oscillation per revolution. The bound Kepler orbit is an ellipse with the force centre at a focus, with one closest and one furthest approach per revolution. Its exact polar coordinates equation isAt , the ratio is : there are two radial oscillations per revolution. The isotropic harmonic oscillator trajectory is an ellipse centred on the force centre. An exact parametrization isHere repeats twice during one full circuit. The two different placements of the force centre distinguish these ellipses. These are the two all-bound-orbit cases of Bertrand's theorem.
Past exam of the physics A course of the University of Cambridge 2022 Paper 2 Section A 2 Solution 2026-10-18
The components are in phase quadrature when the axes of the ellipse coincide with the coordinate axes. Since the wave amplitude is one and the wave amplitude is two, the Jones vector must have .
A handedness convention is essential. Adopt the optical convention in which right-handed elliptical polarization rotates clockwise when viewed toward the source, from the positive- side. With the paper's phase convention for complex amplitudes, this givesThe tip follows . In particular,
The figure states the viewing direction and shows increasing time. Under the alternative convention that calls rotation from toward right-handed when looking along propagation, the equally consistent answer is and the second vector is . The original paper does not state a handedness convention, so its wording alone cannot select between these labels; the real components and viewing direction remove the ambiguity.
Kepler's laws of planetary motion state that, in the relative two-body description, bound trajectories are ellipses with the attracting body at a focus, the radius vector sweeps equal areas in equal times, and the square of the period is proportional to the cube of the semimajor axis for a fixed total mass. Their Newtonian derivation is especially informative. With relative coordinate and , the inverse-square acceleration is . Its zero torque conserves , fixing a plane and the areal velocity .
For , the orbit equation is as a function of polar angle. ThereforeBound negative-energy motion has and semilatus rectum . Dividing ellipse area by areal velocity givesFor a planet much lighter than its star, replace by . Zero-energy and positive-energy encounters are parabolic and hyperbolic rather than periodic ellipses. Perturbations from other bodies and departures from point-mass Newtonian gravity can precess or otherwise modify the orbit; Kepler's laws are a two-body approximation, not an exact rule for every observed planetary path.
For a repulsive inverse-square force, . The effective potential is positive and decreases from infinity to zero, so a trajectory reaching a finite radius has . For nonzero angular momentum, it is the accessible branch of a hyperbola, with . There are no bound ellipses or finite-distance zero-energy parabolas. At zero angular momentum, the motion is straight inward followed by straight outward after reflection at a radial turning point.
For an attractive inverse-square force, write with , and take nonzero conserved angular momentum . The conic section orbit hasThe physically allowed cases are ellipse for , parabola for , and hyperbola for . The minimum allowed energy gives the circular special case . Here is measured relative to infinity. Zero angular momentum instead gives radial collision or escape trajectories, interpreted as degenerate limits rather than regular closed ellipses.
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2014 Paper 2 Section A A2 Solution 2026-10-20
The Hohmann transfer orbit has periapsis and apoapsis , so its semi-major axis is . Kepler's third law gives a period times the original orbital period. Only half the ellipse is traversed:The relevant radii are measured from Earth's centre, not its surface.
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2015 Paper 1 Section C C10 Solution 2026-10-20
For the attractive inverse-square force, choose zero potential energy at infinity, so . At either radial turning point , the kinetic energy is purely tangential, with conserved angular momentum . ThusIts two roots are the periapsis and apoapsis distances. Their sum is , whereas the ellipse has . Therefore , with for a nondegenerate bound ellipse. The circular case follows by the double-root limit.
For the two-body problem, define , total mass , reduced mass , and center of mass . The relative equation is , while the isolated center of mass has . Once the relative orbit is known,The relative energy uses in its kinetic energy and in the gravitational potential energy.
In the equal-mass case the initial relative speed is , , and the center-of-mass velocity is half B's initial velocity. ThusNegative relative energy requires . The escape threshold is ; equality is marginal parabolic escape, so a strictly bound pair has .
For , and the relative semimajor axis is . The initial transverse speed is below the relative circular value , so the initial turning point is apoapsis. HenceChoose the initial separation along from A to B, with B's initial velocity . Conservation of angular momentum gives relative periapsis speed . At the opposite end of the ellipse the direction is , soThus B has the same speed as initially but the opposite velocity. A has at that instant. A value for B would be its center-of-mass-frame speed, not the requested initial laboratory frame result.
The relative orbital period follows from Kepler's third law with total gravitating mass :In the center-of-mass frame each star follows an ellipse of semimajor axis and eccentricity , with the center of mass at a focus; they remain opposite on their simultaneous position vectors. In the laboratory frame add the uniform drift along . The laboratory paths of an equal-mass binary are therefore not closed ellipses, even though their relative motion repeats.







