Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Kepler's Third Law

Question: Determine the period of an object that orbit the sun at an average distance of 5 AU.

The equation to the find the planet orbit is given by T^2 / R^3 = K

  • T = the time it taken for the planet to complete it orbit in years
  • R = average distance of the planet from the sun in Astronomical Unit (AU)
  • K= Kepler's constant = 1, Earth has a period of 1 year and an average distance of 1 AU from the sun
T^2 / (5^3) = 1, T = 11.2 years
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