Question

In Lecture 4, we discussed Kepler’s third law relatingthe orbital period of a planet (p) to the semi-major axis (orbital distance, a) of its orbit(p2= a3). We can apply this law as long the object orbits the Sun or another object of the same mass, and the units of orbital period are in (Earth) years and the orbital distance is in Astronomical Units(AU). [1AU is equal to the distance between the Earth and the Sun]. [Note: Newton extended this law to apply to all orbiting objects, by including some additional factors, namely the masses of the two objects in question.]Use Kepler’s third law to calculate the following:

A)The orbital period of Saturn, assuming that its orbital distance is 9.54AU.

B)The orbital distance of a planet found orbiting once every 2 years around a star of the same mass as the Sun. Give your answer out to two decimal places. Which planet in the Solar System has an average orbital distance closest to this value?

Answer 1