This article is about the two-body problem in classical mechanics.

For the caree

r management problem of working couples, see two-body problem (career).
Two bodies with similar mass orbiting around a common barycenter with elliptic o
rbits.
In classical mechanics, the two-body problem is to determine the motion of two p
oint particles that interact only with each other. Common examples include a sat
ellite orbiting a planet, a planet orbiting a star, two stars orbiting each othe
r (a binary star), and a classical electron orbiting an atomic nucleus (although
to solve the electron/nucleus 2-body system correctly a quantum mechanical appr
oach must be used).
The two-body problem can be re-formulated as two one-body problems, a trivial on
e and one that involves solving for the motion of one particle in an external po
tential. Since many one-body problems can be solved exactly, the corresponding t
wo-body problem can also be solved. By contrast, the three-body problem (and, mo
re generally, the n-body problem for n = 3) cannot be solved in terms of first i
ntegrals, except in special cases.
Two bodies with a slight difference in mass orbiting around a common barycenter.
The sizes, and this particular type of orbit are similar to the Pluto-Charon sy
stem and also to Earth-Moon system in which the center of mass is inside the big
ger body instead.
Contents
1 Reduction to two independent, one-body problems
1.1 Center of mass motion (1st one-body problem)
2 Two-body motion is planar
3 Laws of Conservation of Energy for each of two bodies for arbitrary potent
ials
4 Central forces
5 Work
6 See also
7 References
8 Bibliography
9 External links
Reduction to two independent, one-body problems
Jacobi coordinates for two-body problem; Jacobi coordinates are \boldsymbol{R}=\
frac {m_1}{M} \boldsymbol{x}_1 + \frac {m_2}{M} \boldsymbol{x}_2 and \boldsymbol
{r} = \boldsymbol{x}_1 - \boldsymbol{x}_2 with M = m_1+m_2 \ .[1]
Let x1 and x2 be the positions of the two bodies, and m1 and m2 be their masses.
The goal is to determine the trajectories x1(t) and x2(t) for all times t, give
n the initial positions x1(t = 0) and x2(t = 0) and the initial velocities v1(t
= 0) and v2(t = 0).
When applied to the two masses, Newton's second law states that
\mathbf{F}_{12}(\mathbf{x}_{1},\mathbf{x}_{2}) = m_{1} \ddot{\mathbf{x}}_{1}
\quad \quad \quad (\mathrm{Equation} \ 1)
\mathbf{F}_{21}(\mathbf{x}_{1},\mathbf{x}_{2}) = m_{2} \ddot{\mathbf{x}}_{2}
\quad \quad \quad (\mathrm{Equation} \ 2)
where F12 is the force on mass 1 due to its interactions with mass 2, and F21 is
the force on mass 2 due to its interactions with mass 1.
Adding and subtracting these two equations decouples them into two one-body prob
lems, which can be solved independently. Adding equations (1) and (2) results in
an equation describing the center of mass (barycenter) motion. By contrast, sub
tracting equation (2) from equation (1) results in an equation that describes ho
w the vector r = x1 - x2 between the masses changes with time. The solutions of
these independent one-body problems can be combined to obtain the solutions for
the trajectories x1(t) and x2(t).
Center of mass motion (1st one-body problem)
Addition of the force equations (1) and (2) yields
m_{1}\ddot{\mathbf{x}}_1 + m_2 \ddot{\mathbf{x}}_2 = (m_1 + m_2)\ddot{\mathb
f{R}} = \mathbf{F}_{12} + \mathbf{F}_{21} = 0
where we have used Newton's third law F12 = -F21 and where
\ddot{\mathbf{R}} \equiv \frac{m_{1}\ddot{\mathbf{x}}_{1} + m_{2}\ddot{\math
bf{x}}_{2}}{m_{1} + m_{2}}
\mathbf{R} is the position of the center of mass (barycenter) of the system.
The resulting equation:
\ddot{\mathbf{R}} = 0
shows that the velocity V = dR/dt of the center of mass is constant, from which
follows that the total momentum m1 v1 + m2 v2 is also constant (conservation of
momentum). Hence, the position R (t) of the center of mass can be determined at
all times from the initial positions and velocities.
Two-body motion is planar
The motion of two bodies with respect to each other always lies in a plane (in t
he center of mass frame). Defining the linear momentum p and the angular momentu
m L by the equations
\mathbf{L} = \mathbf{r} \times \mathbf{p} = \mathbf{r} \times \mu \frac{d\ma
thbf{r}}{dt}
the rate of change of the angular momentum L equals the net torque N
\mathbf{N} = \frac{d\mathbf{L}}{dt} = \dot{\mathbf{r}} \times \mu\dot{\mathb
f{r}} + \mathbf{r} \times \mu\ddot{\mathbf{r}} \ ,
and using the property of the vector cross product that v w = 0 for any vectors
v and w pointing in the same direction,
\mathbf{N} \ = \ \frac{d\mathbf{L}}{dt} = \mathbf{r} \times \mathbf{F} \ ,
with F = d 2r / dt 2.
Introducing the assumption (true of most physical forces, as they obey Newton's
strong third law of motion) that the force between two particles acts along the
line between their positions, it follows that r F = 0 and the angular momentum
vector L is constant (conserved). Therefore, the displacement vector r and its v
elocity v are always in the plane perpendicular to the constant vector L.
Laws of Conservation of Energy for each of two bodies for arbitrary potentials
In system of the center of mass for arbitrary potentials
~U_{12} = U(\mathbf{r}_1 - \mathbf{r}_2)
~U_{21} = U(\mathbf{r}_2 - \mathbf{r}_1)
the value of energies of bodies do not change:
~E_1 = m_1 \frac{v_1^2}{2} + \frac{m_2} {m_1+m_2} U_{12} = Const_1(t)
~E_2 = m_2 \frac{v_2^2}{2} + \frac{m_1} {m_1+m_2} U_{21} = Const_2(t)
Central forces
Main article: Classical central-force problem
For many physical problems, the force F(r) is a central force, i.e., it is of th
e form
\mathbf{F}(\mathbf{r}) = F(r)\hat{\mathbf{r}}
where r = |r| and r^ = r/r is the corresponding unit vector. We now have:
\mu \ddot{\mathbf{r}} = {F}(r) \hat{\mathbf{r}} \ ,
where F(r) is negative in the case of an attractive force.
Work
The total work done in a given time interval by the forces exerted by two bodies
on each other is the same as the work done by one force applied to the total re
lative displacement.
See also
Kepler orbit
Energy drift
Equation of the center
Euler's three-body problem
Gravitational two-body problem
Kepler problem
n-body problem
Virial theorem
Two-body problem (career)
References
David Betounes (2001). Differential Equations. Springer. p. 58; Figure 2.15.
ISBN 0-387-95140-7.
Bibliography
Landau LD, Lifshitz EM (1976). Mechanics (3rd. ed.). New York: Pergamon Pres
s. ISBN 0-08-029141-4.
Goldstein H (1980). Classical Mechanics (2nd. ed.). New York: Addison-Wesley
. ISBN 0-201-02918-9.
External links
Two-body problem at Eric Weisstein's World of Physics
Categories:
Concepts in physics
Orbits
Classical mechanics
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