How is planet's distance from the sun related to the length of its orbits?

Answer 1

Yes, there is a relationship between the distance from the sun and the length of the year for the planets. The greater the distance from the sun, the longer the year. The reasons are explained in Newton's Laws of Gravity and Einstein's Theory of Relativity.

A planets year is known as the distance a planet takes to travel around the Sun in a complete orbit. For example, in 365 days time, or one year, the Earth will have traveled around the Sun and be back in the position it is in right now. When compared to Earth, the closer a planet is to the the Sun, the shorter its years are (Mercury, Venus). Planets further away from the Sun have longer years when compared to an Earth year (Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto). So we say that a year on Mercury compared to ours only lasts 88 Earth days, whereas a year on Neptune takes about 60000 Earth days (nearly 165 Earth years).

The cube of the distance is proportional to the square of the length of the year or orbital period.

For example, Jupiter is about 5.2 times as far from the Sun as the Earth is. Cube 5.2. Now take the square root of the result. That's how many times longer Jupiter's year is than Earth's year.

Distance (in AU's) cubed equals orbit time (in earth years) squared. For example, Mars is 1.52 AU with an orbit time of 1.88 Earth years. 1.52^3 == 1.88^2 (�= 3.54) Neptune is 30.11 AU and orbit time of 164.79 Earth years. 30.11^3 == 164.79^2 (�=27295.25)

The length of the planet's year is equal to the distance to the power 1.5. So for a planet at 4 times the distance, the rotation period would be 8 times longer (Kepler's 2nd law).

Answer 2

The closer a planet is to the Sun the faster it travels.

For more information look up Kepler's 3 laws.

Kepler's third law is the key to solve this question. It is written as: P^2 = a^3

Or: P2 = a3

That's means:

the period of revolution squared (in Earth years) = the average distance from Sun cubed (in astronomical units).

(Strictly speaking "a" is the semi major axis of the orbit, but it's the same thing.)

Nova Net answer - distance to the sun

Answer 3

The farther a planet is from the sun, the longer the circumference of its orbit is, AND the slower it travels in its orbit. These are the two reasons ... they're actually connected ... why the farther planets have longer periods of revolution.

Answer 4

Closer planets have a short orbit time, while further planets take longer to orbit the sun. The further a planet is from the sun, the slower it's orbital speed. Additionally, it has to travel further, so it takes longer to orbit.

Answer 5

The further a plant is from the sun, the larger it's orbit. The order from the closest to the sun (with the smallest orbit first) is: Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune (remember Pluto is no longer considered a planet as it is so small)

Answer 6

There is a relationship between the planets distance from the sun and the time taken for one orbit (planets year), described in Keplars third law. The square root of the time taken to orbit the sun is proportional to the cube of the average distance between the sun.

for the planets in our solar system;

PlanetAverage distance from sun in kmDays to orbit sunYears to orbit sunMercury57,909,17587.970.24Venus108,208,930224.700.62Earth149,597,890365.261.00Mars227,936,640686.971.88Jupiter778,412,0104331.5711.86Saturn1,426,725,40010759.2229.46Uranus2,870,972,20030799.1084.32Neptune4,498,252,90060190.00164.79

Answer 7

The further a planet is from the sun, the longer it takes to orbit the sun. One orbit is a year for that planet. Mercury takes about 88 days. Pluto takes about 248 of our years to complete its orbit.

Answer 8

The simple relationship is: The larger the orbit, the longer the orbital period.

The relationship in sharper focus:

[ (The orbital period)2 divided by (the radius of the orbit)3 ]

is the same number for each body in orbit around the same central body.

This fact falls out of one of Kepler's laws when they're algebraically massaged.

Answer 9

Yes. Thde distance to the sun is 150Gm. The orbit time is 2 pi 150Gm/29814 =365 hours, where velocity = 29814 m/s= sqrt(GM/R).

Answer 10

Definitely. The farther --> the longer.