Power of Mathematical Thinking: From Newton's Laws to Elections and the Economy

Stable Motion and Central Configurations (1x8)

: 01, 2010

When the number of bodies is greater than two, chaos need not rule. Some arrangements—called central configurations—are stable because the forces between the different bodies cancel out. Probe this widespread phenomenon, which occurs with cyclones, asteroids, spacecraft mid-course corrections, and even vortices from a canoe paddle.