Question

Suppose an asteroid orbits the sun with a mean radius 11 times that of Earth. Use the simplified version of

Kepler's third law (T2= a³) to find the period of the asteroid? Round your answer to the nearest Earth year.

Answer 1

36 years

Step-by-step explanation:

Given the equation of Kepler's third law as T² = a³, you want to know the period of an asteroid that has an orbital radius of 11 au.

Period

Solving the given equation for t, we find ...

T = a^(3/2) . . . . . . take the 1/2 power

Then for a=11, the period in years is ...

T = 11^(3/2) ≈ 36.48

The period of the asteroid is about 36 years.