Physics > Gravitation > 7.0 Kepler's law of planetary motion

  Gravitation
    1.0 Newton's law of gravitation
    2.0 Variation of acceleration due to gravity
    3.0 Gravitational field
    4.0 Gravitational potential
    5.0 Gravitational potential energy
    6.0 Satellites
    7.0 Kepler's law of planetary motion
    8.0 Problem solving technique

7.3 Kepler's third law

It is also known as the law of periods.

The square of the time period of revolution of a planet around the sun is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of the elliptical orbit.

Mathematically, $${T^2} \propto {a^3}$$

where,

$T:$ Time period of revolution of planet around the sun
$a:$ Length of semi-major axis of the elliptical orbit

Consider a planet of mass $m$ rotating in a circular orbit as shown in figure.


$$\frac{{GMm}}{{{r^2}}} = \frac{{m{v^2}}}{r}$$$$v = \sqrt {\frac{{GM}}{r}} $$$$T = \frac{{2\pi r}}{v}$$$$T = 2\pi \sqrt {\frac{{{r^3}}}{{GM}}} $$ or $${T^2} = \frac{{4{\pi ^2}{r^3}}}{{GM}}$$ or $${T^2} \propto {r^3}$$

For elliptical orbit we can write, $${T^2} \propto {a^3}$$
where $a$ is the length of the semi-major axis of an ellipse.


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