Cosmic Perspective Fundamentals
Cosmic Perspective Fundamentals
3rd Edition
ISBN: 9780134988504
Author: Bennett, Jeffrey O., Donahue, M. (megan), SCHNEIDER, Nicholas, Voit, Mark
Publisher: Pearson,
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Chapter 4, Problem 1QQ

Choose the best answer to each of the following. Explain your reasoning.

How many of the planets orbit the Sun in the same direction as Earth does? (a) a few. (b) most (c) all

Expert Solution & Answer
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To determine

Number of planets orbiting Sun in the same direction as Earth.

Answer to Problem 1QQ

Option (b) Most planets possess same direction of motion as Earth does, revolving around the sun.

Explanation of Solution

Introduction:

Rotational motion possessed by any planet but in the direction opposite to that of the center(sun) is called retrograde motion and when a planet or satellite possesses same rotational direction of motion with its reference point (sun) is called prograde motion.

The direction of motion of the sun is counterclockwise like most of the planets except Uranus and Venus when observed from a high point of the North Pole of the solar system. Earth possesses prograde motion and the planets Venus and Uranus possess retrograde motion. Apart from these two planets, every planet rotates in a direction same as the Earth. The retrograde motion of Venus and Uranus is due to an asteroid hit which occurred billions of years ago.This caused the Uranus to be tilted with an angle of 900 from its orbital axis due to which it possesses prograde motion.

Hence, all the planets beside Uranus and Venus rotate in direction same as Earth.

Conclusion:

Most planets possess the same direction of motion as Earth does, circling around the sun.

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Let's use Kepler's laws for the inner planets. Use the following distances from the sun to calculate the orbital period for each of these planets. Express your answer in terms of Earth years to two significant figures. Answer for the highlighted planet in each question. Note: Use Kepler's law directly. Don't just Google the answers, as they will be a little bit different. When you have calculated them, only submit the value for Earth. Planet Distance from the sun Period of orbit around the sun Earth 150 million km ___ Earth years Mercury 58 million km ___ Earth years Venus 108 million km ___ Earth years Mars 228 million km ___ Earth years
Problem 2. Planetary Body Composition:  Density (Links to an external site.) of the Earth  (Palen, et. al., 1st Edition,  Chapter 6, problem 70) Earth’s mean (Links to an external site.) radius is 6,378 km and its mass is 5.97 x 1024 kg. CALCULATE Earth’s average (Links to an external site.) density. SHOW YOUR WORK. DO NOT LOOK UP THIS VALUE! The average density of Earth’s crust is 2,600 kg/m3. What does this tell you about Earth’s interior?
The table below presents the semi-major axis (a) and Actual orbital period for all of the major planets in the solar system. Cube for each planet the semi-major axis in Astronomical Units. Then take the square root of this number to get the Calculated orbital period of each planet. Fill in the final row of data for each planet.                               Table of Data for Kepler’s Third Law: Table of Data for Kepler’s Third Law:   Planet              aau = Semi-Major Axis (AU)   Actual Planet      Calculated Planet                                                                         Period (Yr)            Period (Yr) __________   ______________________   ___________    ________________ Mercury                      0.39                                0.24 Venus                         0.72                                0.62 Earth                          1.00                                1.00 Mars                           1.52                                1.88 Jupiter…

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