ASTRONOMY The following table gives the length of year L(in earth years) of each planet in...

ASTRONOMY The following table gives the length of year L(in earth years) of each planet in the solar system along with the mean (average) distance D of the planet from the sun, in astronomical units (1 astronomical unit is the mean distance of the earth from the sun).

a. Plot the point (D, L) for each planet on a coordinate plane. Do these quantities appear to be linearly related?

b. For each planet, Compute the ratio . Interpret

what you Find by expressing L as a function of D.

c. What you have discovered in part (b) is one of Kepler’s laws, named for the German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630). Read an article about Kepler and describe his place in the history of science.