Question

Kepler's second law says that if a planet is in an elliptical orbit around a star, then the planet moves fastest when the planet is

Answer 1

Kepler's second law indicates that a planet travels fastest when it is closest to its star, due to the stronger gravitational pull at this position in its elliptical orbit.

Step-by-step explanation:

Kepler's second law states that a planet moves fastest when it is closest to the star it orbits. This phenomenon occurs because the planet's orbital speed varies in an elliptical orbit; the closer it is to the star (at perihelion), the higher its speed due to the stronger gravitational pull. Conversely, it moves slower when it is farthest from the star (at aphelion).

In accordance with Kepler's law of equal areas, the imaginary line connecting the planet to the star sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time, indicating that the planet will cover more distance when near the star compared to when it is farther away. This aspect of planetary motion can be visualized in Figure 3.5, where you see areas A and B being equal while covered during the same time intervals.