THE EARTH-MOON SYSTEM

Let's consider the motion of the moon of mass m in the gravitational field, which
is produced, by the earth of mass M . The moon moves in a plane (x,y) around the earth
which is at the origin (0,0). We simplify our problem by assuming that the orbit of the
moon is circular and the center of mass of the Earth-moon system coincides with the
center of mass of the earth. If (r,) are the polar coordinates of the moon, then the
equations of motion are
r 3 2 = GM
(1)
2
2
2
2
mr 2 + MR 2
= m0 r020 + M 0 R 2
= P(cons tan t )
5
T
5
T0
R is the radius of earth, T is the sidereal rotation period of earth and T0 is the present
sidereal rotation period. The subscript 0 indicates the present value of a quantity. P is
the total angular momentum. The quantities m , M , r , , T and TM (the sidereal period
of the moon) change slightly with the time according to the following relations:
m = m0 (1 t )

M = M 0 (1 t )
r = r0 (1 + t )
= (1 + t )
0

(2)

TM = TM 0 (1 t )
T = T0 (1 + t )
0 < , , , << 1
From the third, fifth and sixth of equations (2) we obtain
r = r0 t
TM = TM 0 t

(3)

T = T0 t
Because of equations (2), equations (1) become
r03 (1 + t )3 02 (1 + t ) 2 = GM 0 (1 t )

2
2

2
2

2
2
2
2
2

m0 (1 t ) r0 (1 + t ) 0 (1 + t ) + 5 M 0 (1 t ) R T 1 + t = m0 r0 0 + 5 M 0 R T
)
0(
0

= 2 2

2
2 2

M R

5 0 T0
( ) = 0
+ 2 + +
2
m0 r0 0

2 2

+ 2 + + 0.24466 ( ) = 0

(4)

2 2
2
2
5 M0R T

2 M 0 R T 0 2
1
0

=
=
81.3
27.396
=
0.24466
(
)
(
)

2
5 m0 r02 T0
5
m0 r0 0

60.33

We solve equations (4) with respect to and .

= 3.48932 + 0.48932
(5)
= 5.73398 0.73398
(6)
From the third of equations (3) ( T = T0 t ), knowing that T = 1.695 ms/century [1],
T0 = 23h + 56 min + 4sec we obtain

= 6.2 10 18 sec1
We also know that

= (1.69 0.05 ) 1018 sec 1

We use these values of and in equations (5) and (6) to find the values of and .
= ( 8.930 0.174466 ) 1018 sec 1
= ( 14.2411 0.286699 ) 1018 sec 1
We set these values of and in the first and second of equations (3) to obtain
r = r0 t = ( 385 106 m ) ( 8.930 0.174466 ) 1018 sec 1 (1year )
r = 10.85 0.21 cm / year
TM = TM 0t = ( 2,360,592sec ) ( 14.2411 0.286699 ) 1018 sec 1 (1 year )
TM = 1.06 0.02 m s/ year
References
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_rotation