Teaching the Kepler laws for freshmen

2007/07/31 by Maris van Haandel, van Haandel, Maris, Gert Heckman +1
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Experimental and Theoretical Physics Studies #FOS: Mathematics #History and Overview (math.HO) #Relativity and Gravitational Theory #Symplectic Geometry (math.SG) #math.HO #math.SG

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.0707.4605

12 pages

arxiv created 2007/07/31 · openalex publication_date 2007/07/31 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We present a natural proof of Kepler's law of ellipses in the spirit of Euclidean geometry. Moreover we discuss two existing Euclidean geometric proofs, one by Feynman in hist Lost Lecture from 1964 and the other by Newton in the Principia of 1687.

Citations

• Regularization of kepler's problem and the averaging method on a manifold

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