Additional Energy
If the central body has radius R, then the additional energy of an elliptic orbit compared to being stationary at the surface is
- For the Earth and a just little more than this is ; the quantity is the height the ellipse extends above the surface, plus the periapsis distance (the distance the ellipse extends beyond the center of the Earth); the latter times g is the kinetic energy of the horizontal component of the velocity.
Read more about this topic: Specific Orbital Energy
Famous quotes containing the words additional and/or energy:
“Dog. A kind of additional or subsidiary Deity designed to catch the overflow and surplus of the world’s worship.”
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914)
“After the planet becomes theirs, many millions of years will have to pass before a beetle particularly loved by God, at the end of its calculations will find written on a sheet of paper in letters of fire that energy is equal to the mass multiplied by the square of the velocity of light. The new kings of the world will live tranquilly for a long time, confining themselves to devouring each other and being parasites among each other on a cottage industry scale.”
—Primo Levi (1919–1987)