Orbital motion and Newton’s authority
Published by admin April 26th, 2008 in Authority, Physics, NewtonIn their derivation of orbital motion physicists write down the mass m of the orbiting satellite and later cancel it and they conclude correctly that the orbit is not dependent on m, as stated on this NASA page:
There is an important concept evident in all three equations – the period, speed and the acceleration [i.e. the orbit] of the satellite are not dependent upon the mass of the satellite.
The same is also true for force. Physicists start their derivation of orbital motion by writing force equations and later cancel all force terms. Therefore, by the same reasoning above, orbital motion does not depend on force.
Yet, in the case of force physicists reject the authority of mathematics and uphold Newton’s authority and claim that orbits are governed by force. To me this is not a scientific conclusion that follows from the equations.
What do you think?