Preflight assignment 5


(Closed. Preflights are due at 10 AM on Tuesdays. )
When you are satisfied with your response, you must click the SUBMIT button at the bottom of this page.


  1. Taylor (on p. 91) argues that rxF =0 for the case of a planet orbiting the sun. He then uses that to claim that the planet's orbit "is confined to a single plane containing the sun", and the problem of orbits is thus 2-D, not 3-D. Explain in your own words how you draw that conclusion from "rxF=0".


  2. In your own words (not just a formula) what does it mean to write a Taylor series expansion around the point a?

  3. This is exam week. What topic(s) have we covered that you feel the shakiest on, (and can you articulate what the difficulty you're having is?)

  4. Exams don't stop the class! Tuesday's reading is Taylor 4.1-4.2. Please submit a question you have about the reading assigned for the upcoming class. What seemed hard, was something confusing, what would you like us to spend class time on? If you can't come up with any question, how about a comment - (did anything strike you as interesting? )
    Reminder: the reading assignments are always on our course calendar

    Thanks for your time.