- #1
SpeedBird
- 28
- 0
hey there, i am having trouble with what should be a really easy question!
*********
calculate the mass of the sun assuming that the Earth's orbit is circular
and with a radius of 1.5 * 10^8 km
i got the period of the Earth's orbit around the sun in seconds:
60*60*24*365.25
then used the formula:
T = ((4*Pi^2*r^3)/(G*M))^2
rearranging in terms of M
i change the radius of the orbit to metres instead of kilometres before putting
it into the formula.
but the answer i get is 1.9 * 10^30 kg
and i think the answer should be in the order of 10^40 kg
can anyone suggest where i might be going wrong?
thanks
Nik
*********
calculate the mass of the sun assuming that the Earth's orbit is circular
and with a radius of 1.5 * 10^8 km
i got the period of the Earth's orbit around the sun in seconds:
60*60*24*365.25
then used the formula:
T = ((4*Pi^2*r^3)/(G*M))^2
rearranging in terms of M
i change the radius of the orbit to metres instead of kilometres before putting
it into the formula.
but the answer i get is 1.9 * 10^30 kg
and i think the answer should be in the order of 10^40 kg
can anyone suggest where i might be going wrong?
thanks
Nik