Gravitation and Kepler's Laws

This lecture introduces the topic of gravitation, discussing Kepler's laws and their relation to Newton's law of universal gravitation. The instructor emphasizes the importance of understanding central forces and kinetic momentum, leading to the development of the laws of planetary motion. The historical context of the geocentric and heliocentric models is explored, highlighting the scientific method and the role of empirical observations. The lecture covers the concept of moments of inertia and the application of Kepler's laws to elliptical orbits. Additionally, the demonstration of the torsion pendulum experiment illustrates the principles of gravitational attraction and the concept of gravitational fields.