IB Physics 3 Database/Lab Activity: Planetary Orbits September 4, 2012 Background.

Recall that the gravitational attraction between two bodies separated by a distance r is given by , where m1 and m2 are the masses of the two bodies. Letting m1 equal the mass of the sun, this quantity also represents the strength of the centripetal force keeping a planet of mass m2 in orbit at a distance r from the sun. In fact, since the centripetal force on a body in circular motion is given by ,

it is possible to find the velocity at which a given planet orbits the sun by drawing a free-body diagram on the planet consisting of a single forcethe gravitational attraction between that planet and the sunand noting that the net force (i.e. the gravitational force in this case) must be equal to the centripetal force describing the planets uniform circular motion: .

(Otherwise, the planet would not be moving in a circle around the sun.) Solving for v gives the planets orbital velocity, which can be used to find the period of the planets orbitthe amount of time it takes to go once around the sun. (Youll need to determine the distance the planet traverses per orbit using the equation for circumference of a circle.)

Independent Calculation. For this activity, begin by taking the mean orbital radii of the four planets listed below and calculating their orbital periodsthe amount of time it takes each planet to travel once around the sun. Show your calculations and make a table of inputs (orbital radii) and outputs (orbital periods) in your lab notebook. Leave space for the other planets as well, even though I am only requiring calculations for the four planets listed here: Mean Orbital Radii 0.387 AU Mercury 1.000 AU Earth 1.524 AU Mars 5.203 AU Jupiter

Database Research. One of the technology skills the IBO wants to develop in young scientists is the ability to collect data from a database.1 To that end, visit one of the online databases below and verify your calculations for the four planets listed above. Moreover, copy the orbital radii and orbital periods of the remaining planets into your lab notebook to complete the table. (You did leave space, right?) http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/ http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/solar/solill.html
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A database is simply a collection of data on a given subject, organized for easy search and retrieval.

IB Physics 3 Database/Lab Activity: Planetary Orbits September 4, 2012

Graphing Keplers Third Law. You may not be familiar with Keplers third law of planetary motion, but you may have unknowingly discovered it while performing the calculations above. If not, you certainly used it indirectly if you found T as a function of r before plugging in numbers. Since 2 relates the velocity of a planet to the distance and time it takes to travel once around the sun (this is just the definition of average velocity: total distance divided by total time), substituting that expression for v into the equation you used above gives a symbolic relationship between T and r. The relationship between T and r is nonlinear, but your equation should look like a polynomial equation, with T2 equal to some multiple of r3. Graph T2 versus r3 and find the slope of the best fit line to determine experimentallybased on what we observe in naturethe constant of proportionality. Does it come out to the value you expect based on our theoretical model of uniform circular motion? You should complete your graph in Excel or a similar piece of software and print it to bring to class, along with the calculations in your lab notebook, on Thursday.

Note: This activity is essentially equivalent to exercise 16 in section 6.4 of the textbook. Have a look there if youre unsure of what your equation should look like for Keplers third law.