Keplers Laws

Front

What is Kepler's First Law?

Back

Planets move in elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus.

Front

What is Kepler's Second Law?

Back

A line segment joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.

Front

What is Kepler's Third Law?

Back

The square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit.

Front

What is eccentricity in the context of orbits?

Back

Eccentricity is a measure of how much an orbit deviates from being circular.

Front

What is the range of eccentricity values for a circle?

Back

Eccentricity of a circle is 0.

Front

What is the formula for calculating eccentricity?

Back

e = d / L, where d is the distance between foci and L is the length of the major axis.

Front

What does an eccentricity of 1 indicate?

Back

An eccentricity of 1 indicates a parabolic trajectory.

Front

What does an eccentricity greater than 1 indicate?

Back

An eccentricity greater than 1 indicates a hyperbolic trajectory.

Front

What is the significance of the semi-major axis in an ellipse?

Back

The semi-major axis is half the longest diameter of the ellipse and determines the size of the orbit.

Front

How does the speed of a planet change in its orbit according to Kepler's laws?

Back

A planet moves faster when it is closer to the Sun and slower when it is farther from the Sun.