Center of mass separate bodies, such as the planets of the Solar System, the center of mass may not correspond to the position of any individual member of the system. The center of mass is a useful reference point for calculations in mechanics that involve masses distributed in space, such as the linear and angular momentum of planetary bodies and rigid body dynamics. In orbital mechanics, the equations of motion of planets are formulated as point masses located at the centers of mass. The center of mass frame is an inertial frame in which the center of mass of a system is at
Escape velocity alternative expression for the escape velocity formula_6 particularly useful at the surface on the body is: where "r" is the distance between the center of the body and the point at which escape velocity is being calculated and "g" is the gravitational acceleration at that distance (i.e., the surface gravity). For a body with a spherically-symmetric distribution of mass, the escape velocity formula_6 from the surface is proportional to the radius assuming constant density, and proportional to the square root of the average density ρ. where formula_14 The escape velocity "relative to the surface" of a rotating body depends on