Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2012 / ia / Paper 4 / 9B (Dynamics and Relativity)

A central force has no angular component, so the supplied polar acceleration formula and Newton's second law give $d(r^2\dot{\theta })/dt=0$. Thus $l=r^2\dot{\theta }$ is the conserved specific angular momentum. For a nonradial orbit, $l\ne 0$ allows $\theta$ to be used as a parameter. With $u=1/r$ and a prime denoting $d/d\theta$,Also $r{\dot{\theta }}^2=l^2{u}^3$. The radial equation $\ddot{r}-r{\dot{\theta }}^2=-f(r)$ therefore becomes the Binet equationFor a purely radial trajectory $l=0$, the angular parameter is unavailable, and one instead uses the direct radial equation. The orbit in part (b) is nonradial.

Set $\theta =0$ initially and choose its positive sense to agree with the initial tangential motion. The inward radial component is $\dot{r}(0)=-4\cos (\pi /3)=-2$, while the tangential speed is $4\sin (\pi /3)=2\sqrt{3}$. HenceSubstitution in the Binet equation gives $12(u^{\prime \prime }+u)=3+9u$, or $u^{\prime \prime }+u/4=1/4$. This is an orbit equation for combined inverse-square and inverse-cube attraction. Solving the constant-coefficient equation and applying both initial conditions givesOn $0\le \theta \le 2\pi$, the sine is nonnegative, so $r$ stays finite and positive. At $\theta =2\pi$, $u=1$, hence $r=1$ and the particle is back at its original spatial position after one revolution. But $u^{\prime }(2\pi )=-1/\sqrt{3}$, so its radial velocity is now $+2$, rather than the original $-2$. The return is not a periodic return in position and velocity.

After that revolution, the first zero of $u$ is at $\theta =8\pi /3$, where $\sin (\theta /2)=-\sqrt{3}/2$. The physical branch therefore has $r\to \infty$ as $\theta \uparrow 8\pi /3$; it must not be continued into negative $u$. Since $dt/d\theta =1/(l{u}^2)$ and $u$ has a simple zero, reaching infinity takes infinite time. As a check, the specific potential energy is $\Phi (r)=-3/r-9/(2r^2)$ and the conserved energy per unit mass is $4^2/2+\Phi (1)=1/2$, giving escape speed $1$ at infinity, also obtained from $-l{u}^{\prime }(8\pi /3)=1$.