Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion Flashcard

Front

The path the planets follow as they orbit the Sun are in a shape called _?_

Back

an ellipse

Front

At which position would the moon be traveling fastest in its elliptical orbit?

Back

location 2

Front

An ellipse is drawn around two points called _?_, which are always the same total distance from any point on the edge.

Back

foci

Front

What shape has an eccentricity of zero because every axis is the same length?

Back

a circle

Front

While traveling around its orbit, during which segment does a line from the planet to the sun sweep through the most area of space?

Back

the areas of every segment are equal

Front

What is Kepler's First Law of Planetary Motion?

Back

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

Front

What does Kepler's Second Law state about the speed of planets?

Back

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

Front

What is the significance of the foci in an ellipse?

Back

The foci are the two fixed points that define the shape of the ellipse.

Front

How does eccentricity relate to the shape of an orbit?

Back

Eccentricity measures the deviation of an orbit from being circular; a value of 0 is a circle, while values closer to 1 indicate more elongated ellipses.

Front

What is the formula for calculating the eccentricity of an ellipse?

Back

e = c/a, where c is the distance from the center to a focus, and a is the distance from the center to a vertex.