The following table shows the orbital radii of the eight major planets in our solar system

PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Fields and their consequences · Fields and their consequences

Problem

The following table shows the orbital radii of the eight major planets in our solar system.

Planet	Orbital Radius (Gm)	Orbital speed ( $\text{kms}^{-1}$ )
Mercury	58
Venus	108
Earth	150
Mars	228
Jupiter	779
Saturn	1434
Uranus	2873
Neptune	4495

(G = 6.67 \times 10^{-11} \text{ Nm}^2\text{kg}^{-2} \text{ and } M_{\text{Sun}} = 2 \times 10^{30} \text{ kg})

(1) Complete the table by calculating, for each planet, its orbital speed. (2) Using your data from the completed table, draw a graph of orbital speed against orbital radius. (3) Suppose you were given only the graph you have drawn in part b, outline how you could use the graph (together with any other graph you might like to draw) to verify that the mass of the Sun is

2 \times 10^{30} \text{ kg}

Related theory

Planetary Motion & Orbits
Gravitation
Satellites & Orbital Motion
Orbital velocity and period
Earth satellites

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