- #1
Inertialforce
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Homework Statement
Mars orbits the sun at 1.52 Earth's orbital radius. What is the period of Mars in Earth years?
Homework Equations
ΣFc = mac
The Attempt at a Solution
I am unsure how to do this problem as this is the first "orbital period" question that I have encountered. Do I use the equation ΣFc = mac to solve this question, or is there another equation specifically for orbital periods that I don't know about?
because if I go the ΣFc = mac route I get:
ΣFc = mac
Fg = m4(pie)^2r/T^2
GMem/r^2 = m4(pie)^2(1.52)r/T^2
GMe/r^2 = 4(pie)^2(1.52)r/T^2
(GMe)(T^2) = 4(pie)^2(1.52)r^3
T = √4(pie)^2(1.52)r^3/GMe
This is my first orbital period question so I was just wondering would this be the correct way to solve it?