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Planetary orbit can be expressed by the equation x²/3600+y²/3249=1. What is the length of the orbit's major axis and its orientation?

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Final answer:

The length of the major axis of the ellipse is 120 units, and it is oriented horizontally along the x-axis.

Step-by-step explanation:

The equation given represents an ellipse in the standard form: \(\frac{x^2}{a^2} + \frac{y^2}{b^2} = 1\), where a and b represent the lengths of the semi-major and semi-minor axis, respectively. In this case, the values under the x² and y² terms indicate that a² = 3600 and b² = 3249. Therefore, the semi-major axis a is the square root of 3600, which is 60, and the semi-minor axis b is the square root of 3249, which is 57. The major axis of the ellipse is twice the length of the semi-major axis, so the length of the major axis is 120.

The orientation of the major axis of an ellipse is along the x-axis or the y-axis, depending on where the larger number under the square terms is placed. In this case, the larger value, 3600, is under the x² term, so the major axis of this ellipse is oriented horizontally along the x-axis.

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