Friday, 28 June 2019

newtonian gravity - rotational oblateness


I am trying to compute the amount of oblateness that is caused by planetary rotation. I picture the force of gravity added to the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the planet as follows:


forces


That is, at the point in question, at latitude ϕ, the distance from the axis of rotation is rcos(ϕ). Thus, the centrifugal force would be ω2rcos(ϕ) in a direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation. The radial and tangential components would be ω2rcos2(ϕ) and ω2rcos(ϕ)sin(ϕ), respectively.


My assumption is that the surface of the planet would adjust so that it would be perpendicular to the effective g; that is, the sum of the gravitational and centrifugal forces. This would lead to the equation drrdϕ=ω2rcos(ϕ)sin(ϕ)gω2rcos2(ϕ)

We can make several assumptions here, and I will assume that ω2r is small compared to g. Thus, we get npeqdrr2=ω2gπ/20cos(ϕ)sin(ϕ)dϕ
which leads to 1rnp1req=ω22g
and 1rnpreq=ω2rnp2g
However, numerical evaluation and Wikipedia seem to indicate that this should be twice what I am getting. That is, 1rnpreq=ω2r3Gm=ω2rg
What am I doing wrong?





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