Kepler's laws: Difference between revisions

From Citizendium
Jump to navigation Jump to search
imported>Nachiketa
(New page: '''Kepler's laws of planetary motion''', or simply, '''Kepler's laws''' are three laws stated by the astronomer Johannes Kepler. These laws govern the motion of the planets around ...)
 
imported>Mark Widmer
(Expanded note on circular orbits)
 
(2 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Kepler's laws of planetary motion''', or simply, '''Kepler's laws''' are three laws stated by the [[astronomer]] [[Johannes Kepler]]. These laws govern the motion of the planets around the sun. Stated briefly, the laws are:<br />
{{subpages}}
# The orbit of a planet is [[ellipse|elliptical]], with the sun at one of the two foci of the ellipse.
'''Kepler's laws of planetary motion''', or simply '''Kepler's laws''', are three laws stated by the German [[astronomer]] [[Johannes Kepler]]. These laws govern the motion of the [[planet]]s around the [[Sun]]. Stated briefly, the laws are:<br />
# The line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time.
# The [[orbit]] of a planet is [[ellipse|elliptical]], with the sun at one of the two foci of the ellipse.
# The square of the periodic time of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its elliptical orbit.
# The line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time.
# The square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its (elliptical) orbit.
 
Note that planetary orbits can be [[Circle_(mathematics)|circular]], as a circle is a special case of an ellipse. In this case, the sun is located at the center of the circle, and the semi-major axis is simply the circle's radius.

Latest revision as of 16:49, 16 January 2022

This article is a stub and thus not approved.
Main Article
Discussion
Related Articles  [?]
Bibliography  [?]
External Links  [?]
Citable Version  [?]
 
This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

Kepler's laws of planetary motion, or simply Kepler's laws, are three laws stated by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler. These laws govern the motion of the planets around the Sun. Stated briefly, the laws are:

  1. The orbit of a planet is elliptical, with the sun at one of the two foci of the ellipse.
  2. The line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time.
  3. The square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its (elliptical) orbit.

Note that planetary orbits can be circular, as a circle is a special case of an ellipse. In this case, the sun is located at the center of the circle, and the semi-major axis is simply the circle's radius.