Two identical spheres are connected by an elastic tether. The tether obeys Hooke's Law for ideal springs. At a particular moment in time, the tether is in a straight line, at its resting length, neither stretching nor contracting. This assembly is then placed into a circular orbit around the Earth, and oriented so that a line drawn from one sphere through the tether and the other sphere points directly at the Earth.

Give a qualitative description of the motion of the two spheres relative to each other over time.

This is far beyond me.
When the guys at wolfram start using words as "surprisingly difficult ", I know it's not my league.
The problem is not only the relation between three bodies, it also involves the elastic tether.
So it is even more difficult then http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/Three-BodyProblem.html
Good luck.

Posted by Hugo on 2005-04-13 21:29:15