Mathematical Definition
The central force F that varies in strength as the inverse square of the distance r between them:
where k is a constant and represents the unit vector along the line between them. The force may be either attractive (k<0) or repulsive (k>0). The corresponding scalar potential (the potential energy of the non-central body) is:
Read more about this topic: Kepler Problem
Famous quotes containing the words mathematical and/or definition:
“It is by a mathematical point only that we are wise, as the sailor or the fugitive slave keeps the polestar in his eye; but that is sufficient guidance for all our life. We may not arrive at our port within a calculable period, but we would preserve the true course.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)
“The very definition of the real becomes: that of which it is possible to give an equivalent reproduction.... The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is always already reproduced. The hyperreal.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)

