13.2: Triangles
- Page ID
- 6869
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)I shall start with a geometric theorem involving triangles, which will be useful as we progress towards our aim of computing orbital elements.
\(\text{FIGURE XIII.1}\)
Figure \(\text{XIII.1}\) shows three coplanar vectors. It is clearly possible to express \(\textbf{r}_2\) as a linear combination of the other two. That is to say, it should be possible to find coefficients such that
\[\textbf{r}_2 = a_1 \textbf{r}_1 + a_3 \textbf{r}_3 . \label{13.2.1}\]
The notation I am going to use is as follows:
- The area of the triangle formed by joining the tips of \(\textbf{r}_2\) and \(\textbf{r}_3\) is \(A_1\).
- The area of the triangle formed by joining the tips of \(\textbf{r}_3\) and \(\textbf{r}_1\) is \(A_2\).
- The area of the triangle formed by joining the tips of \(\textbf{r}_1\) and \(\textbf{r}_2\) is \(A_3\).
To find the coefficients in Equation \ref{13.2.1}, multiply both sides by \(\textbf{r}_1 \times\):
\[\textbf{r}_1 \times \textbf{r}_2 = a_3 \textbf{r}_1 \times \textbf{r}_3 . \label{13.2.2}\]
The two vector products are parallel vectors (they are each perpendicular to the plane of the paper), of magnitudes \(2A_3\) and \(2A_2\) respectively. (\(2A_3\) is the area of the parallelogram of which the vectors \(\textbf{r}_1\) and \(\textbf{r}_2\) form two sides.)
\[\therefore a_3 = A_3/A_2 . \label{13.2.3}\]
Similarly by multiplying both sides of Equation \ref{13.2.1} by \(\textbf{r}_3 \times\) it will be found that
\[a_1 = A_1/ A_2 . \label{13.2.4}\]
Hence we find that
\[A_2 \textbf{r}_2 = A_1 \textbf{r}_1 + A_3 \textbf{r}_3 . \label{13.2.5}\]