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A planet orbits a star with the path shown below. a. Label the point on the orbit at which the planet has the most kinetic energy. (3 points)b. at what point on the orbit at which the plant has the lowest acceleration?

A planet orbits a star with the path shown below. a. Label the point on the orbit-example-1
User WBlasko
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We are asked to determine the point where the orbit of the planet has the most kinetic energy. Since the kinetic energy depends on the velocity this means that the kinetic energy is a maximum where the velocity is also a maximum. The point where the velocity is a maximum is the following:

The planet has the lowest acceleration when the gravitational force is the weakest, This means that the lowest acceleration is when the planet is furthest from the sun. Therefore, we have:

A planet orbits a star with the path shown below. a. Label the point on the orbit-example-1
A planet orbits a star with the path shown below. a. Label the point on the orbit-example-2
User Philbird
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