
190 Classical Mechanics
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574 seconds of arc per century; approximately 531 seconds of arc can be explained by the presence
of perturbations resulting from other bodies in the solar system. The rest (42.57 seconds of arc) can
be accounted for almost exactly by the modication that is introduced into the equation of motion
of a planet by the general theory of relativity. This small modication term behaves effectively as
a small additional inverse fourth-power component to the Newtonian gravitational force. We shall
indicate below qualitatively how to use the modied equation of motion to calculate the advance of ...