Final answer:
Using Kepler's Third Law and the fact that Earth's orbital period is 1 year at a distance of 1 AU from the Sun, the orbital period of Planet X, which is 10 AU away from the Sun, can be calculated to be approximately 31.62 Earth years.
Step-by-step explanation:
The orbital period of a planet in the solar system can be estimated using Kepler's Third Law of Planetary Motion, which states that the square of the period (T) of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis (a) of its orbit. In simpler terms, there is a relationship between the time a planet takes to orbit the Sun and its distance from the Sun.
In the case of Planet X, which is 10 AU from the Sun, we can use the information we have from Earth's orbit as a reference. Since Earth is 1 AU from the Sun and has an orbital period of 1 year, we can setup a proportion:
(Period of Earth)^2 / (Distance of Earth from Sun)^3 = (Period of Planet X)^2 / (Distance of Planet X from Sun)^3
Plugging in the values we get:
1^2 / 1^3 = T^2 / 10^3
Simplifying further:
1= T^2 / 1000
T^2 = 1000
T = sqrt(1000)
T ≈ 31.62 years
Therefore, the orbital period of Planet X is approximately 31.62 Earth years.