27.7k views
4 votes
The orbital period of planet Venus is 0.62 years. What is its distance from the sun?

0.22 AU
0.72 AU
2.2 AU
7.2 AU

1 Answer

4 votes

Kepler's third law shows the relationship between the orbital period of an object and the distance between the object and the object it orbits.

The simplified version of this law is: P^2 = a^3

Where,

P = period of the orbit in years = 0.62 years

a = average distance from the object to the object it orbits in AU. The astronomical unit AU is a unit of length which is roughly equivalent to the distance from Earth to the Sun.

Therefore calculating for a:

0.62 ^ 2 = a ^ 3

a = 0.62 ^ (2/3)

a = 0.727 AU = 0.72 AU

Therefore we can interpret this as: The distance from Venus to the Sun is about 72% of the distance from Earth to Sun.

Answer: B. 0.72 AU

User Lucas L Roselli
by
8.3k points

No related questions found

Welcome to QAmmunity.org, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of our community.