A comet approaches the Sun as illustrated in Fig. 8.54 and is deflected by the Sun€™s gravitational attraction. This event is considered a collision, and b is called the impact parameter. Find the distance of closest approach (d) in terms of the impact parameter and the velocities (vo at large distances and v at closest approach). Assume that the radius of the Sun is negligible compared to d. (As the figure shows, the tail of a comet always €œpoints€ away from the Sun.)

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Comet Sun