Suppose two comets, comet A and comet B, were orbiting the sun, having the same average orbital radii. If comet A had a higher orbital eccentricity than comet B, which comet would, during some portion of its orbit, have the lower orbital speed? a. A b. B c. both would be the same d. impossible to tell

Question

Brennan Wood

Physics

17 February, 23:52

Suppose two comets, comet A and comet B, were orbiting the sun, having the same average orbital radii. If comet A had a higher orbital eccentricity than comet B, which comet would, during some portion of its orbit, have the lower orbital speed? a. A b. B c. both would be the same d. impossible to tell

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Answers (1)

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Savanah Conrad · Answer 1

a. A

Explanation:

Kepler's First Law says that the orbits of planets are ellipses with the sun at one focus of the ellipse. Moreover, Kepler's Second Law says that the line joining the planet to the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times as it moves along its orbit. Finally, Kepler's Third Law says that the ratio of the squares of the periods for two planets is equal to the ratio of the cubes of their semi-major axes.

By these laws, the comet A will have lower orbital speed.