A planet makes a circular orbit with period T around a star. If the planet were to orbit at the same distance around this star, but the planet had three times as much mass, what would the new period (in terms of T ) be:
Solution to 8DQ Step 1 Introduction The mass of the planet is increased 3 times of its original mass while keeping the orbital radius constant, we need to find the new time period. For an object revolving around a mass in a certain orbit of radius R, then Kepler’s law of periods state that, the square of the period of any planet is proportional to the cube of the semimajor axis of its orbit. Since time period of the revolution is independent of the mass of the planet revolving, time period is equal to T Answer :(c)T