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stefiex
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Hello! I'm having some problems with a question that my professor has given me. Below is the question. I have already figured out the planet's orbital and angular-orbital velocities, but included that part due to the fact that some information was included.
PICA-9 and PIC-10 are planets orbiting its star, PIC-2A. Find each of the planet's orbital and
angular-orbital velocity if PIC-2A has the same mass as our Sun, PICA-9 is 1.0 A.U. away from
the star and PICA-10 is 5.5 times further than PICA-9. What are the gravitational potential
energies of each planet with respect to the star?
Since everything must be in m/kg form, I have figured out that:
Distance from PICA-9 and PICA-2A is 1.50X1011m
Distance from PICA-10 and PICA-2A is 8.22X1011m
PICA-2A mass is 1.989X1030kg
G=6.67X10-11
Since the formula for GPE given to me is -GMm/r (G=gravity in space, M="the anchor" mass, m=orbiting object's mass, and r=the distance between the planets), I wasn't sure if PE=mgh would be a helpful formula in this case. Would finding the kinetic energy be helpful as well? How would I find the mass of the planets?
Thanks for reading!
PICA-9 and PIC-10 are planets orbiting its star, PIC-2A. Find each of the planet's orbital and
angular-orbital velocity if PIC-2A has the same mass as our Sun, PICA-9 is 1.0 A.U. away from
the star and PICA-10 is 5.5 times further than PICA-9. What are the gravitational potential
energies of each planet with respect to the star?
Homework Equations
Since everything must be in m/kg form, I have figured out that:
Distance from PICA-9 and PICA-2A is 1.50X1011m
Distance from PICA-10 and PICA-2A is 8.22X1011m
PICA-2A mass is 1.989X1030kg
G=6.67X10-11
The Attempt at a Solution
Since the formula for GPE given to me is -GMm/r (G=gravity in space, M="the anchor" mass, m=orbiting object's mass, and r=the distance between the planets), I wasn't sure if PE=mgh would be a helpful formula in this case. Would finding the kinetic energy be helpful as well? How would I find the mass of the planets?
Thanks for reading!