Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2017 / ia / Paper 4 / 10A / a / Solution

A central force has no component in the angular direction. The angular component of the acceleration in polar coordinates therefore gives $2\dot{r}\dot{\theta }+r\ddot{\theta }=0$, orFor unit mass, $h=r^2\dot{\theta }$ is the signed angular momentum perpendicular to the orbital plane, so its magnitude $|h|$ is conserved. Equivalently, the torque $\mathbf{r}\times \mathbf{F}$ vanishes, which also fixes that plane.

The given potential energy is $k/r$, whose radial force is $k/r^2$: positive $k$ is repulsive and negative $k$ attractive. The kinetic energy in polar coordinates is $({\dot{r}}^2+r^2{\dot{\theta }}^2)/2$, so conservation of energy givesFor $h\ne 0$ and $k>0$, the effective potential is positive, strictly decreasing from $+\infty$ to $0$, and has no stationary point. For $k=-\kappa <0$, it still tends to $+\infty$ at zero, crosses zero at $r=h^2/(2\kappa )$, and has its unique minimum atIt then approaches zero from below. The minimum corresponds to a stable circular orbit. If $h=0$, the centrifugal barrier disappears; the attractive effective potential is simply $-\kappa /r$ and has no minimum.