Kepler's laws of planetary motion
Kepler's
laws of planetary motion are three
scientific laws
describing orbital
motion, originally formulated to describe the motion
of planets around the Sun.
Kepler's
laws are:
- The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two
foci.
- A line
joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of
time.[1]
- The square
of the orbital period
of a planet is proportional to the cube
of the semi-major axis of its orbit.
Kepler's first law - sometimes referred
to as the law of ellipses - explains that planets are orbiting the sun in a
path described as an ellipse. An ellipse can easily be constructed using a
pencil, two tacks, a string, a sheet of paper and a piece of cardboard. Tack
the sheet of paper to the cardboard using the two tacks. Then tie the string
into a loop and wrap the loop around the two tacks. Take your pencil and pull
the string until the pencil and two tacks make a triangle (see diagram at the
right). Then begin to trace out a path with the pencil, keeping the string
wrapped tightly around the tacks. The resulting shape will be an ellipse.
Kepler's second
law - sometimes referred to as the law of equal areas - describes the speed at
which any given planet will move while orbiting the sun. The speed at which any
planet moves through space is constantly changing. A planet moves fastest when
it is closest to the sun and slowest when it is furthest from the sun. Yet, if
an imaginary line were drawn from the center of the planet to the center of the
sun, that line would sweep out the same area in equal periods of time. For
instance, if an imaginary line were drawn from the earth to the sun, then the
area swept out by the line in every 31-day month would be the same.
Kepler's third law - sometimes referred to as
the law of harmonies - compares the orbital period and radius
of orbit of a planet to those of other planets. Unlike Kepler's first and
second laws that describe the motion characteristics of a single planet, the
third law makes a comparison between the motion characteristics of different
planets. The comparison being made is that the ratio of the squares of the
periods to the cubes of their average distances from the sun is the same for
every one of the planets.
Ghousia anjum.
Department of physics .
Brindavan
college.
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