; motion Kepler's laws of planeta" p Kepler's first law: Elliptical orbits through the three Kepler's laws of we ion one by one, stacy wai OO Jaw states that aper’s first we [All planets move in elliptical orbits, with the Sun at one focus. while most people believed that planets moved incircles, Kepler ass moved in ellipses. What are the differences nig ay cas anata oven elliptical orbits, erted that planets were etween an ellipse and a circle? What is an ellipse? You can draw an ellipse by using a pencil, a string loop and two pins (Fig. 3.4). The focus of the ellipse is the position where either pin is located. Therefore, there are two foci. An ellipse has two axes about which it is symmetric. The longer one is the major axis and the shorter one is the minor axis. The semi-major axis a is half of the major axis, and the semi-minor axis bis half of the minor axis. Acircle can be considered as a special case of an ellipse where both the semi-major axis a and the semi-minor axis b are equal. | When the two foci of an ellipse coincide, the ellipse becomes a Circle with the centre at the focus and the radius r= a=. ——— ¥/ foo ton \| Pe, | * Drawing an elipse | opie Ye" ows of paneia'y matin Bit ips ab” Facts it ac i” Semin anes) Sika ad ee ae er Sea Orbital Motions under Gravity Elliptical orbit An the solar system, a planet orbits around the Sun in ellipse and the Sun is located at one of the foci. Its distance from the Sun changes periodically. ‘The perihelion is the point in the orbit closest to the Sun, while the aphetion is the point farthest from the Sun, From F ‘We can see that the two points are on the major axis and the semi-major axis a is related to the perihelion distance rand aphelion distance r, by +r 2 eliptical bt efipaca rt aphetion ae = Fig. 3.5 A planet orbits around the Sun Fig. 3.6 The perihelion distance, aphetion distance and the semimajor axis # ofan elliptical ‘orbit around the Sun. ian elliptical orbit of semi-major ais a Deawing an etipse (MV63:032)Kepler's second law: Equal area in equal time sesecond law states that opie" ‘an imaginary line, called the radius vector, joining, the Sun and the planet sweeps out equal areas in equal time intervals, 7 shows the motion of a planet in two equal time intervals, fig 3.7500 P 1 she planet Fry move from Y,t0 Y According to Kepler's second law, the dyes swept out by its radius vector (shaded areas) are equal takes time f to move from X; to X,, and the so rhe speed of a planet is related to its distance from the Sun. in Fig. 37, the planet moves faster when it and slower when it farther from the Sun, ®® checkpoint @ 1 Trwer false isatthe et {@)_ Kepler's frst law states that the Su contre of the elliptical orbit of a pla (©) Kepler's second law states that the radi vector of a planet sweeps out equal areas equal time intervals. (9) According to Kepler's second law, planet moves faster when itis nearer the Sun and slower when itis farther away. Aplanet orbits around - the Sun as shown, The major axis of the “liptical orbit is 3.05 AU long, The focus is ; {15 AU from the ene ofthe orbit, (9) Label the perihetion and the aphelion on the figure, Calculate the pe phetion distance. elion distance and the shown, ne time closer to the Sun, True oF false: The orbit tal period of the pl - Fig. 3.7. Keplor’s second lav 4 foth the distance and speed oft planet change in an elliptical orbit (6) Atwhich point, perihelion or aphelion, does: the planet travel the fastest? are below shows the area swept out by the jius veetor of a planet in six time intervals. All is six times the time taken for it to travel from X to X! (b) The planet takes equal time X’ and from X' to Y, (©) The planet has the: travels from Z.t0 Z’ among the to travel from X to speed whe six int als 59 Be ae ee Ske SeOrbital Motions under Gravity Gg Kepler's third law: Period and semi-major ayi, | Kepler's third law states that | For any planet, the square of its orbital period Tis proportional | to the cube of the semi-major axis a of its orbit, ie. T?« a', We may also write | =ke | where k is a proportionality constant. Kepler's third law relates 4 Weshal dewnmen the orbital periods and semi-major axes of differont planets. It —— tells us that a planet farther away from the Sun takes a longer grt : | time to complete its orbit once. | In general, for two planets orbiting the same sta r, having, Periods 7, and 7;, and orbits of semi-major axes a, and iy | | 1 , f io \ | ya A circular orbit can be considered as a special case of an elliptical / cide at the centre, and i e As mentioned, Kepler's laws also apply to other bodies orbiting orbit. For a circular orbit, the two foc } the semi-major axis becomes the radius. : Fig. 3.8 A cicular obit ; under a gravitational force. See the following example wv ; is Bodies orbiting around the Earth The Moon moves in an elliptical orbit around the Earth with a | period of 27.3 days (d) and a semi-major axis of 384 000 km. Find the period of an artificial satellite orbiting around the Earth ina circular orbit at a distance of 10 000 km from the Earth’s centre. A Solution Applying Kepler's third law to the Moon (body 1) and the satellite (body 2), 4 For actcuar orbit the ais equal tothe =0.1147d ‘The period is 0.115 days.Keplers tow ofparey ction SI Orbital motion around the Su n piers thied law can be reduced to a jppled to orbital motion around the arth, we have mpler form when Poe un. First, applying it to une ka? eT; and a, are the p ‘ where Ty p Period and semi-major axis of th forth orbit. For another planet orbiting the Su T= ka? with the constant k. Dividing the two equations TP jays 7 -(a) Ifthe semi-major axes are given in AU and the orbital periods are given in years (y), 4, = 1 AU and T;,= 1 year, and Ted we have Itis important to note that the above equation only applies to «+ orbital motion around the Sun, and + the unit of T is the year while the unit of a is AU. ‘Table 3.1 shows the data for planets in the solar system. Note that the value of T? is almost equal to the that of a’ for each ph of 7° versus a® gives a straight line of a planet, and the graj slope equal to one (Fig. 3.9). By ae et sor aE py 100 000: 10000 ‘Neptune 1000. Gatun fupiter 100. 10 fexth “Venus | on ae ne 7100 |_ Uranus 84.0 7100 192) oo | gm anne ae pe 27.000 Ls hee | Neptune 165 27 000 908 ere ert Baa a, Fig. 3.9 A grph of T agunst a for various planets "We 3.1 Kepler third law applied tothe planets 9 TeOrbital Motions under Gravity Cai: Halley's Comet ‘The perihelion Sun in an elliptical orbit ‘and 35.1 AU, respectively. Halley’s Comet orbits the and aphelion distances are 0.586 AU (a) Find the semi-major axis of the orbit in AU (b) Find the orbital period of Halley's Comet in years A Solution (a) The semi-major axis a of the orbit is given by 0.586 + 35.1 ee 17.843 = 17.8 AU AY. (b) The orbital period is T=@ 922 17.8437 ainctee: ~r 4 Snapshot Saas Comets Comets are small icy bo iptical orbits. Short i q move in elongated eli 5,00 year. From the equation dies that orbits the Sun. They period comets bet ot rte have periods less than + we know that their orbital semi-major axes 27° { beyond the solar 3 re tess than 200” = 34 AU, which is just system. Long-period comets may have periods over 71000000 years, and orbits extending over 10000 AU! of a comet is c the Sun, the icy materials cloud called a come. 1d creates a beautiful The small icy solid part alled the nucleus When it comes close to vaporize, forming a giant gaseous ‘a: Structure of a comet Long-period comets move in very elongated orbits. This means that they may come very close to the Sun The so-called sungrazing comets may approach the Sion to within a few thousand kilometres above the solar surface. Some of them do not survive under the intense radiation ofthe Sun. Comet ISON, for instance Solar radiation ‘blows’ on the gas an rat which extends in the opposite direction fom the Sun, The gaseous coma and tail reflect sunlight and disintegrated when it passed the perihelior allow the comet to be seen from the Earth. November 2013. Disintegration 4 of Comet ISON ‘near the Sun a ane |et inthe plane’ wart isadt tal period is ce orbit pd these major iresernit oa sre or false ) Kepl the plan fers third law relates the orbital periods of ets to the semi-major axes of the orbits i. Kepler’sthird law does Nor apply to circular orbits ig. Kepler’ third law is valid owt sehen the time isexpressed in years. Kepler's laws OF P jeriod Tro semniemaio" The graph that relates orbital P straight (a) The data for the Moon lie on the same st¥aig) line {b)_‘Thestraight line passes through the ori (©) Data for more massive planets are on the rig! of the Earth on the graph. 1. Thedwar planet Pluto has an orbit of semi-major ni 395 AU, What i its orbital period? A sesity B. 395y c RsMy D. 395%y ‘The orbital period of the Earth is one year and its orbital semi-major axis is 1 AU. Which of the illowing may represent the orbital period T and he semi-major axis @ of an imaginary planet which otis the Sun? T a S283 y 2AU 7 283 y 4AU may 2AU ay 4au inn Planets, X and Y, move in nearly circular tap found a star. Y is twice as far away from the Maras x, 7 ') Astudent ca togldent claims that the orbital perio of Y is “se that of X. Explain why he is incorrect. " Fing of ati ofthe orbital period of X to that omit aphein Mis quite eliptca. ts perihelion 28167 ag stances from the Sun are 1.38 AU respectively a (2) Find the semi-major axis of its orbit. (b) Find its orbital period in y Comet Encke is a short-period comet. Its closest distance to the Sun is 0.33 AU and its orbital period is 3.3 years, (a) Find the semi-major axis of the orbit of Comet Encke, (©) Find the aphetion distance of Comet Eick (©) Jupiter orbits the Sun with co of 5.2. AU. (Does the orbit of Comet Encke that of Jupiter? Why? 7 (ii) Do you think that the Jupiter is longer than Encke? Why? lie inside orbital period of that of Comet ay tio a ee ee| cee Orbital motion under gravity In Force and Motion, we learnt that Newton discovered the law of universal gravitation. Accordingly, an object attracts | another object by the force of gravity, For two point masses or two spherical mass distributions (e.g, the Sun and planets), the gravitational force between them is | imyty @e- + F=G es m, and ty, and Fig. 3.10 Attaction between spherical mass dstibutions | Note that the force is proportional to the ma: | inversely proportional to the square of the separation r. constant G = 6.67 x 10" N m? kg” is the universal gravitational constant, which connects mass to gravity. he Newton's law of universal gravitation tells us about the gravitational force between the celestial bodies, while Newton's [Athough Newton’ laws low uso second law of motion tells us how the bodies move under the circular orbits Kepler's third law for circular orbits using Newton's jerive a i vet eral gravitation and Newton's second law of motion. yo sanet of mass m moving around the Sun of mass M in a «2 nb of radius, the gravitational force acting on itis el dross ot pach _ r This force provides the Sun (ass centripetal force for the circular motion of the - planet. Therefore, lanl ae Mm _ mv? oMm me Poor uae fg317 A planet moving around the Sun in revelarobt Hence the speed v of the planet is The orbital period T is 2nr 7 a nears ag = 2 og Taking the square of both sides of the equation, we have An Pre cM This; ‘Sactually Kepler's third law T? = ke’, with k = = B eWipticat orbits Sear ae law for elliptical orbits is similar to that for "With ae Pts: The difference lies in replacing the orbital radius Semi-major axis a: 1 gravy Orbital motion under 8 The Sun and the planet attract each other with equal but opposite forces However, the mation of the Sun is negligible since its much more massive than the planet. 1 otbital speed “¢_Recalthat the semimsjor aio red tothe radius efor a circular orbit, pat Used when ay le AU ara” 2°plying Ying Teg" = 2 amt wee EaHowever, wo are not going, to show how the above formula is derived. The derivation requires advanced mathematics which is beyond the scope of this book Kepler's third law does not only apply to planetary motion around the Sun, but also to any orbital motion due to gravity, under two conditions: (1) the massive celestial objec mass = M) is at the focus of the orbit; (2) M > m. See the ‘owing example [GREEN rc aati The first artificial satellite was are about 1 above our heads. Half of them are in low-Earth orbits (< 2000 km abov the Earth’s surface), a twentieth in medium-Earth orbits, and most of the rest Nn geostationar { the speed and the period of an artificial satellite moving w-Earth orbit at 300 km from the Earth’s surface. Assume appears stationary in ing in a geostationary or the sky as seen from the Earth. (i) Find the distance of a geostationary satellite from the Earth’s centre, and its orbital speed the geostationary orbit should by (ii) Explain how the plane placed so that it appears stationary in the sky mass of the Assume all orbits are circular, Given that th Earth = 5.97 « 10" kg, the radius of the Barth » 6370 km and G=6.67 «10 Nm’ kg 4motion une orbital = gwtio” § ana ee atellite from the Earth’s centre: AY sation we have 1062 respec’ in the low-Earth orbit is, sould be gwen = GM (6.67 x 10"): (6.97 x 10) 154 6.67 x 10° z =7730ms" she orbital period is ont (6.67 x 10°) ae 1 a, sis= 24 0 7726.6 Ox 60 =151h py @ Forthe satellite to appear stationary in the sky, its orbital pera must be the same as the slF-rtaton Pe iod of the arth, ie. 24 hours. “4: Tobe at, 23 hours and 56 minute rhe distance of the satelite from the Farth’s centre be found by (6.67 x 10°") 6.97 X10 ie (6.67 X10") OPE x (24 x 3600) ae = 4.222 x 107 m “4. Therefor, te geostationary ofits aig 10-637 x10?» 3.58% 10" kn = 4.2210" km Shove the Earths surface The orbital speed is 2g (4.222107) I ee 4 We can also usew= orbital speed. fo find the oar pase = 24x 3600 the orbital plane (ii) As shown in the figure, with the must coincide so that the satellite is head a particular of the satellite equatorial plane, always directly ove! location on the equator. ore hic haste otal peso cat tation period. Hower Pe tats may or ay Ot {WA geostationary obits ‘seosynchronous fequal tothe Eat ‘asynchronous ot plane ofthe gee equatorial plane. coincide with the Kepler's third law also asive celestial body M pai Part from predicting planetary Motor f the mas aly wSus us to determine the mass o| example. the he focus ofthe orbit. See the following 20 ap et ae HE ESiy Orbital Motions under Gravity iS LCT eR) Galilean moons The four biggest satellites of Jupiter are Ganymede, Callisto, lo and Europa. They are called the Galilean moons in memory of their discovery by Galileo in 1609. Io is the closest to Jupiter. Its orbital period is 1.77 days, and the semi-major axis ofits orbit is 422.000 km. Take G = 6.67 x 10" N (a) Find the mass of Jupiter. (b) The semi-major axis of the orbit of Callisto is 1.88 x 10°m. Find the period of Callisto in days. Solution (a) T=1.77 days= 1.77 x 24 x 60x 60s a= 422 000 km 19 x 108s 2 x 108m. a a GM Applying 7 4a? (422x105 (6.67 x 10") - (1.529 x 105) = 190% 10” kg (b) Applying T? cca’, T =| (==) Tyo My sao)? roam ={S24) ty 1.88 x 10 } 77 4.22 10° fi_Enrichment Measuring the mass of a celestial body Kepler’ third law provides astronomers a useful way to measure the mass of celestial body. Fromm = SZ g, ‘we see that the mass M of the celestial body at the focus can be found from the orbital period T and the ‘semi-major axis a of an orbiting object. This method applies to a wide range of celestial bodies. The mass ofthe Sun can be found by observing the ‘motion of the planets. The mass ofa planet can be found by observing the ‘motion of its satelites. The mass ofa star, or even a black hole, can be found by measuring the orbit of another star or gas that revotves around it. See the Snapshot on p. 81 for more information about a black hole. ‘4. Galilean moons 88 When applying the equation 3 ¢ we have to conver alle physical quantities into Sl urit fest, We cannot apply the equation T= 2° tothis problem because is ‘ot an oxbital mation around the Sun However the propotionl elation Taxa! stil applies tothe orbital, ‘motion ofthe sataltes around Jopite ‘A. The mass ofthe stars in a binary 8" system can be determined by obse"S the motion of the stars under their mutual gravity asl