Wednesday, August 20, 2014

newtonian mechanics - 3-body system centre of mass


I have a three body system of point masses that represent mercury, earth and the sun. I want them to orbit about a common centre of mass, but I think the centre of mass will move. I need the centre of mass to always remain at the origin.


If I move the bodies a certain amount, find the new position of the centre of mass and subtract it from the new positions of the planets, does that mean the centre of mass is still at the origin? Or do I also need to do some calculation using the velocity of the centre of mass?




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