The figure shows the sun located at the origin and the earth at the point s1, 0d. (The

Chapter 4, Problem 42

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The figure shows the sun located at the origin and the earth at the point s1, 0d. (The unit here is the distance between the centers of the earth and the sun, called an astronomical unit: 1 AU < 1.496 3 108 km.) There are five locations L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5 in this plane of rotation of the earth about the sun where a satellite remains motionless with respect to the earth because the forces acting on the satellite (including the gravitational attractions of the earth and the sun) balance each other. These locations are called libration points. (A solar research satellite has been placed at one of these libration points.) If m1 is the mass of the sun, m2 is the mass of the earth, and r m2ysm1 1 m2 d, it turns out that the x-coordinate of L1 is the unique root of the fifth-degree equation psxd x 5 2 s2 1 rdx 4 1 s1 1 2rdx 3 2 s1 2 rdx 2 1 2s1 2 rdx 1 r 2 1 0 and the x-coordinate of L2 is the root of the equation psxd 2 2rx 2 0 Using the value r < 3.04042 3 1026 , find the locations of the libration points (a) L1 and (b) L2. L L L L L