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Gravity and Kepler's Law Notes
Gravity is an attractive force between two objects that depends on their masses and the distance between them. Kepler's laws state that planets move in elliptical orbits with the sun at one focus, a line connecting a planet to the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times, and the square of a planet's orbital period is proportional to the cube of its average distance from the sun.
Gravity and Kepler's Law Notes
- 1.
- 2. Gravity • An attractiveforce between two objects exerted over a distance • Magnitude determined by the mass of the two objects and the distance between them
- 3. Law of Orbits •All planets move in elliptical orbits, with the sun at one focus
- 4. Eccentricity • Ratio betweenthe major axis and the distance between the foci; closer to 1 more “oval-like”, closer to 0 the more “circle-like”
- 5. Law of Areas •A line that connects a planet to the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times • When a planet is closer to the sun, the force of gravity goes up, therefore the planet accelerates and speeds up; farther away planets go slower
- 6. Law of Periods •The square of the period of any planet is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit • T2 = a3 • T = period; Earth years of one revolution around sun • a = AU’s from the sun