Circular motion and gravitation question

Thread starter chazgurl4life
Start date Mar 5, 2006
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Circular Circular motion Gravitation Motion

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In a binary star system with two equal-mass stars separated by 340 million kilometers, the stars orbit a common center every 5.0 Earth years. To find the mass of each star, the gravitational force and centripetal force equations can be applied, considering the circular motion of the stars. The total distance between the stars is used to determine the radius of each star's orbit. By applying Kepler's third law and the formula for gravitational force, the mass can be calculated. The solution involves understanding the relationship between orbital period, distance, and mass in a circular motion context.

Mar 5, 2006

chazgurl4life

Q:Suppose that a binary star system consists of two stars of equal mass. They are observed to be separated by 340 million kilometers and take 5.0 Earth years to orbit about a point midway between them. What is the mass of each?

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Mar 5, 2006

Hootenanny

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Have you done any working? This question is similar to you previous one, just adding in a bit of circular motion(assuming the orbits are circular).

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