Haha, I don't think that Yahoo will be able to answer that indeed.
You can get the main equations that way, but at some point you'll have to go into it.
1) Is the angular speed just v/r or do you have to physically measure the angle traveled and divide it by time? If it is just v/r, then v/r = a component of v? That doesn't make sense. If not, ignore this question.
You can calculate the angular speed that way, but you have to only account for the tangential speed (the one I called V_theta):
Angular speed = V_theta/R
The radial component doesn't contribute to the angular motion.
A more general way to know it is by using the fact that areal velocity is a constant:
R × V_theta = R^2 × angular velocity =A (A is a constant)
A can easily be calculated by considering the ship at the periapsis or the apoapsis. As the velocity is fully tangential at those points, you can calculate A easily:
A = Rp×Vp = Ra×Va
Then at any point, the angular velocity is A/R^2.
Trying to divide the angle travelled by time is very difficult, it can only be done numerically.
2) What is responsible for the radial velocity? Because gravity pulls inward, not outward
That's because of the centrifugal effect associated to the circular motion. If the orbit is perfectly circular, the centrifugal effect exactly compensates gravity, which is why the orbit radius never changes.
In an elliptical movement, they are slightly different, so there are 2 phasis:
- the lower part of the ellipse: around the periapsis, the tangential speed is important, and the centrifugal effect is greater than gravity. The result is that the radial speed increases: it's negative during the descending phasis, null at the periapsis, and positive after that.
- the upper part of the ellipse: Now the ship slows down and its the contrary: the gravity becomes higher than the centrifugal effect, and the radial speed diminishes: from positive (ascending phasis) it becomes null (apoapsis) and then negative.
Tell me if that's not clear, I'll try to be more explicit.
Just curious, are you studying a physics major in college or something?
No, I've studied mathematics and physics (I'm an engineer now), but it's been long I'm not a student anymore. I just love toying with equations and trying to understand things by myself.