# Angular speed vs. Orbital speed

1. Nov 1, 2011

### austindubose

1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data
Consider a year to be precisely 365 days. Determine the angular speed of the earth about the sun. If the Earth's mean distance from the sun is 1.496x1011 meters and our orbit is circular, determine our orbital speed about the sun.

2. Relevant equations
ω=Δθ/T, where ω is the average angular velocity, Δθ is the distance around a circle (in radians) traveled, and T is the period of orbit.

3. The attempt at a solution
Using the formula mentioned above, I found the angular speed to be 1.99x10-7 radians/sec, and I Googled the answer and found that this answer seems to be right (please correct me if I am still wrong). Would the orbital speed be the same idea expressed in a linear fashion (i.e., 29,806.08 m/s)?

Thanks for all your help yet again!

2. Nov 1, 2011

### dacruick

Yes, all you would have to do is make the unit conversion from radians to metres. This would of course depend on the radius of the orbit.

3. Nov 1, 2011

### austindubose

Thank you very much! I appreciate the quick reply