Scribd
Upload
335 views2 pages

Kepler Laws Review Answers

1. According to Kepler's laws, a planet moves in an elliptical orbit with the sun located at one of the two focal points of the ellipse. 2. Kepler's second law states that a planet sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time, so the closer a planet is to the sun the faster its orbital speed. 3. The eccentricity of an ellipse is the distance between its two focal points divided by the length of its major axis. A circular orbit has an eccentricity of 0, while an elliptical orbit with one focal point approaches a straight line as its eccentricity approaches 1.

Uploaded by

Allen Peter Uy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
335 views2 pages

Kepler Laws Review Answers

1. According to Kepler's laws, a planet moves in an elliptical orbit with the sun located at one of the two focal points of the ellipse. 2. Kepler's second law states that a planet sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time, so the closer a planet is to the sun the faster its orbital speed. 3. The eccentricity of an ellipse is the distance between its two focal points divided by the length of its major axis. A circular orbit has an eccentricity of 0, while an elliptical orbit with one focal point approaches a straight line as its eccentricity approaches 1.

Uploaded by

Allen Peter Uy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Name ___Key___________________________ Favorite Ellipse: _____________________________

Physical Science
Kepler’s Laws Worksheet

1. A planet is in orbit as shown below. Where are the two possible locations for a Sun?

2. In the picture below, the area in section A = the area in section B.

a. According to Kepler’s 2nd law, which section takes more time for the planet to travel?

Each section takes the same amount of time to travel


b. What does this mean about the relative speed of an orbiting body?

The closer you are to the star the faster the speed in its orbit

2. Kepler's First Law states that a planet moves on an ellipse around the sun. Where is the
sun with respect to that ellipse?

The sun is located at one of the two focal points.

3.a Could a planet move on a circular orbit? Yes

3.b If YES, where would the sun be with respect to that circle? In the center of the ellipse

4. What is the eccentricity of an ellipse? Give a description (words, not formulae).


It is the distance between two foci divided by the length of the major axis.

5. What happens to the ellipse when the eccentricity becomes zero?


The ellipse becomes a circle.

6. What happens to the ellipse when the eccentricity becomes one?


The ellipse approaches a straight line.
7. On planet Blob the average global temperature stays exactly constant throughout the
planet's year. What can you infer about the eccentricity of Blob's orbit?

The eccentricity of Blob’s orbit is close to zero.

8. On planet Blip the average global temperature varies dramatically over the planet's year.
What can you infer about the eccentricity of Blip's orbit?

The eccentricity of Blip’s orbit is very eccentric since the distance to the sun must vary
dramatically.

9.Use the diagram below to explain how and why a planet’s speed changes as it travels
around its sun. Think about when a planet travels faster/slower in its orbit.

As the planet gets closer to the sun the gravitational pull increases so the speed in
its orbit increases therefore it is able to cover a larger distance in its orbit in space.
As it moves away from the sun it slows down and the distance it can cover
decreases.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy