Question

What is the magnitude of the orbital velocity of the planet mercury (orbit radius =5.79× 10 7 km , orbital period = 88.0 days)?

Answer 1

The orbital speed of the planet mercury can be calculated by the formula,

`v=(2\pi R)/(T)`

Here, R is the orbital radius and T is the orbital time.

Given
`R=5.79*10^(7) km` and
`T =88 days` (in second
`T= 88 * 24 * 60* 60=88*86400 s`

Substituting these values in above formula we get,

`v=2*(22)/(7) *(5.79*10^(7) )/(88*86400)`

`v=47.89 km/s\simeq 47.9 km/s`

Thus, the orbital velocity of the planet mercury is 47.9 km/s