Pedal equation and Kepler kinematics

Abstract

Kepler’s laws are an appropriate topic to highlight the significance of the pedal equation in physics. There are several articles that obtain Kepler’s laws through conservation and gravitation laws. This can be shown more easily and ingeniously if one uses the pedal equation of an ellipse. In fact, the complete kinematics of a particle in an attractive central force field can be derived from one single pedal form. Though many articles use the pedal equation, the classical procedure (without proof) for obtaining the pedal equation is mentioned only in a few because the classical derivations can sometimes be lengthier and are not simple. In this paper, using elementary physics, we derive the pedal equation for all conic sections in a unique, short, and pedagogical way. Later, from the dynamics of a particle in the attractive central force field, we deduce the single pedal form, which elegantly describes all the possible trajectories. Also, for the purpose of completeness, we derive Kepler’s laws.