Question

A planet orbits a star, in a year of length 3.81 x 107 s, in a nearly circular orbit of radius 2.22 x 1011 m. With respect to the star, determine (a) the angular speed of the planet, (b) the tangential speed of the planet, and (c) the magnitude of the planet's centripetal acceleration.

Answer 1

Solution:

Given data

Year of length is nothing but the time period,

The radius of the circular orbit,

(a)

Angular velocity of the planet can be calculated as follows

(b)

The tangential velocity is obtained as follows

(c)

The centripetal's acceleration is given by