• Physics Tutorial
  • 1-D Kinematics
  • Newton's Laws
  • Vectors - Motion and Forces in Two Dimensions
  • Momentum and Its Conservation
  • Work, Energy, and Power
  • Circular Motion and Satellite Motion
  • Thermal Physics
  • Static Electricity
  • Current Electricity
  • Waves
  • Sound Waves and Music
  • Light Waves and Color
  • Reflection and Ray Model of Light
  • Refraction and Ray Model of Light
• Minds on Physics
• The Calculator Pad
• Multimedia Studios
• Shockwave Studios
• The Review Session
• Physics Help
• Curriculum Corner
• The Laboratory
• The Photo Gallery
• ACT Test Center
• Reasoning Center

Planetary and Satellite Motion

Student Extras

The Physics Classroom: Kepler's Second Law

Need to see it? View the Kepler's Second Law animation from the Multimedia Physics Studios.

The Physics Classroom Calculator Pad: Circular Motion and Gravitation

Improve your problem-solving skills with problems, answers and solutions from The Calculator Pad.

Nebraska Astronomy Applet Project: Planetary Orbit Simulator

Explore each of Kepler's three laws with this interactive planetary orbit simulator.

Flickr Physics

Visit The Physics Classroom's Flickr Galleries and enjoy a visual tour of the topic of gravitation.

Shockwave Studios

Need to see it? Try the Orbital Motion activity from the Shockwave Studios.

PhET Simulation: My Solar System

Now here's a chance of a lifetime - build your own solar system with this interactive Java applet from PhET. Total cosmic phun.

Teacher's Guide

Kepler System Model

Play the role of Johannes Kepler as you investigate the motion of planets about a central body using this simulation from Open Source Physics (OSP).

Nebraska Astronomy Applet Project: Planetary Orbit Simulator

This Flash-based planetary orbit simulator depicts each of Kepler's three laws of motion. Includes a variety of controls that can be modified - planet, eccentricity, animation rate, etc.

Shockwave Studios

Orbital Motion from the Shockwave Studios is an excellent accompanying activity to this page.

The Laboratory

Looking for a lab that coordinates with this page? Try the Law of Harmonies Analysis from The Laboratory.

The Laboratory

Looking for a lab that coordinates with this page? Try the Jupiter's Moons Analysis from The Laboratory.

The Laboratory

Looking for a lab that coordinates with this page? Try the Mass of Saturn Analysis from The Laboratory.

Curriculum Corner

Learning requires action. Treat your students to this sense-making activity from The Curriculum Corner.

The Nine 8 Planets: A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System

Need orbital information about the planets (and their moons)? Try the Nine Planets website.

PhET Simulation: My Solar System

This interactive Java applet from PhET allows students to build their own solar system with up to four bodies. Preset solar systems can also be studied.

Kepler's Three Laws

In the early 1600s, Johannes Kepler proposed three laws of planetary motion. Kepler was able to summarize the carefully collected data of his mentor - Tycho Brahe - with three statements that described the motion of planets in a sun-centered solar system. Kepler's efforts to explain the underlying reasons for such motions are no longer accepted; nonetheless, the actual laws themselves are still considered an accurate description of the motion of any planet and any satellite.

Kepler's three laws of planetary motion can be described as follows:

• The path of the planets about the sun is elliptical in shape, with the center of the sun being located at one focus. (The Law of Ellipses)
• An imaginary line drawn from the center of the sun to the center of the planet will sweep out equal areas in equal intervals of time. (The Law of Equal Areas)
• The ratio of the squares of the periods of any two planets is equal to the ratio of the cubes of their average distances from the sun. (The Law of Harmonies)

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. An ellipse is a special curve in which the sum of the distances from every point on the curve to two other points is a constant. The two other points (represented here by the tack locations) are known as the foci of the ellipse. The closer together that these points are, the more closely that the ellipse resembles the shape of a circle. In fact, a circle is the special case of an ellipse in which the two foci are at the same location. Kepler's first law is rather simple - all planets orbit the sun in a path that resembles an ellipse, with the sun being located at one of the foci of that 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. This is depicted in the diagram below. As can be observed in the diagram, the areas formed when the earth is closest to the sun can be approximated as a wide but short triangle; whereas the areas formed when the earth is farthest from the sun can be approximated as a narrow but long triangle. These areas are the same size. Since the base of these triangles are shortest when the earth is farthest from the sun, the earth would have to be moving more slowly in order for this imaginary area to be the same size as when the earth is closest to the sun.

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. As an illustration, consider the orbital period and average distance from sun (orbital radius) for Earth and mars as given in the table below.

Observe that the T²/R³ ratio is the same for Earth as it is for mars. In fact, if the same T²/R³ ratio is computed for the other planets, it can be found that this ratio is nearly the same value for all the planets (see table below). Amazingly, every planet has the same T²/R³ ratio.

(NOTE: The average distance value is given in astronomical units where 1 a.u. is equal to the distance from the earth to the sun - 1.4957 x 10¹¹ m. The orbital period is given in units of earth-years where 1 earth year is the time required for the earth to orbit the sun - 3.156 x 10⁷ seconds. )

Kepler's third law provides an accurate description of the period and distance for a planet's orbits about the sun. Additionally, the same law that describes the T²/R³ ratio for the planets' orbits about the sun also accurately describes the T²/R³ ratio for any satellite (whether a moon or a man-made satellite) about any planet. There is something much deeper to be found in this T²/R³ ratio - something that must relate to basic fundamental principles of motion. In the next part of Lesson 4, these principles will be investigated as we draw a connection between the circular motion principles discussed in Lesson 1 and the motion of a satellite.

Check Your Understanding

1. Our understanding of the elliptical motion of planets about the Sun spanned several years and included contributions from many scientists.

a. Which scientist is credited with the collection of the data necessary to support the planet's elliptical motion?

b. Which scientist is credited with the long and difficult task of analyzing the data?

c. Which scientist is credited with the accurate explanation of the data?

2. Galileo is often credited with the early discovery of four of Jupiter's many moons. The moons orbiting Jupiter follow the same laws of motion as the planets orbiting the sun. One of the moons is called Io - its distance from Jupiter's center is 4.2 units and it orbits Jupiter in 1.8 Earth-days. Another moon is called Ganymede; it is 10.7 units from Jupiter's center. Make a prediction of the period of Ganymede using Kepler's law of harmonies.

3. Suppose a small planet is discovered that is 14 times as far from the sun as the Earth's distance is from the sun (1.5 x 10¹¹ m). Use Kepler's law of harmonies to predict the orbital period of such a planet. GIVEN: T²/R³ = 2.97 x 10^-19 s²/m³

4. The average orbital distance of Mars is 1.52 times the average orbital distance of the Earth. Knowing that the Earth orbits the sun in approximately 365 days, use Kepler's law of harmonies to predict the time for Mars to orbit the sun.

Orbital radius and orbital period data for the four biggest moons of Jupiter are listed in the table below. The mass of the planet Jupiter is 1.9 x 10²⁷ kg. Base your answers to the next five questions on this information.

5. Determine the T²/R³ ratio (last column) for Jupiter's moons.

6. What pattern do you observe in the last column of data? Which law of Kepler's does this seem to support?

7. Use the graphing capabilities of your TI calculator to plot T² vs. R³ (T² should be plotted along the vertical axis) and to determine the equation of the line. Write the equation in slope-intercept form below.

8. How does the T²/R³ ratio for Jupiter (as shown in the last column of the data table) compare to the T²/R³ ratio found in #7 (i.e., the slope of the line)?

9. How does the T²/R³ ratio for Jupiter (as shown in the last column of the data table) compare to the T²/R³ ratio found using the following equation? (G=6.67x10^-11 N*m²/kg² and M_Jupiter = 1.9 x 10²⁷ kg)