Ages 12–13🔬 Science10 verified questions on this shelf

Orbital Mechanics

Apply Newton's laws to explain orbital motion: why orbit is continuously falling sideways rather than floating; how a gravity assist (slingshot manoeuvre) transfers momentum from a planet to a spacecraft; and why rockets need to reach a sp…

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Question 1 of 3

A newly discovered planet orbits the Sun at an average distance of 4 astronomical units (AU). Using Kepler’s third law and the fact that Earth orbits at 1 AU with a period of 1 year, what is the best estimate of this planet’s orbital period around the Sun?

Question 2 of 3

Earth orbits the Sun at a distance of 1 astronomical unit (AU) and takes 1 year to complete one orbit. According to Kepler’s third law (P² ∝ a³), how many Earth years would it take a planet that orbits the Sun at a distance of 4 AU to complete one orbit?

Question 3 of 3

Planet X orbits the Sun at a distance of 4 astronomical units (AU) and takes 8 Earth years to complete one orbit. Using Kepler’s third law, which of the following is the best estimate for the orbital period of a newly discovered planet that orbits at 9 AU from the Sun?

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Skill names and descriptions include the Marble Skill Taxonomy © Generative Spark, Inc. (withmarble.com), licensed under ODbL 1.0 (database) and CC BY-SA 4.0 (content). Practice questions are GlowGrades's own, each checked by independent verifiers that must agree before a child ever sees it.