DimSon Posted August 14 Report Share Posted August 14 If an asteroid bisects a binary star system, does the asteroid lose momentum? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartan45 Posted August 30 Report Share Posted August 30 On 8/14/2023 at 9:55 PM, DimSon said: If an asteroid bisects a binary star system, does the asteroid lose momentum? The Principle of the Conservation of Energy is that Energy can never be created nor destroyed. Energy can only be transferred from one form to another. Therefore Kinetic energy gained = Gravitational potential energy lost to point O, (the point bisecting the stars halfway), Kinetic energy lost = Gravitational potential energy gained on the outbound journey. Therefore the speed of the asteroid at the end is the same as at the beginning of the transit, (3x104 m/s). Thank you for posting such a thoughtful, interesting question. OceanBreeze 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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