- #1
quantumworld
- 36
- 0
Dear reader,
here is a neat problem, but kindof over the edge.
when it is about the same distance from the Sun as is Jupiter, a spacecraft on a mission to the outer planets has a speed that is 1.5 times the speed of Jupiter in its orbit. Which of the following describes the orbit of the spacecraft about the Sun?
(A) Spiral
(B) Circle
(C) Ellipse
(D) Parabola
(E) Hyperbola
The way I tried to tackle this problem, is by saying that the eccentricity is more than one (it is 1.5), thus it is a hyperbola, which is the correct answer, BUT I don't think it is enough to know that, I mean my answer assumes that Jupiter's orbit is a hyperbola (eccentricity = 1), but I am not sure if that is correct, or even more, I don't know why do I need to know the orbit's of planets in general . Your contribution is very valuable.
Many thanks.
here is a neat problem, but kindof over the edge.
when it is about the same distance from the Sun as is Jupiter, a spacecraft on a mission to the outer planets has a speed that is 1.5 times the speed of Jupiter in its orbit. Which of the following describes the orbit of the spacecraft about the Sun?
(A) Spiral
(B) Circle
(C) Ellipse
(D) Parabola
(E) Hyperbola
The way I tried to tackle this problem, is by saying that the eccentricity is more than one (it is 1.5), thus it is a hyperbola, which is the correct answer, BUT I don't think it is enough to know that, I mean my answer assumes that Jupiter's orbit is a hyperbola (eccentricity = 1), but I am not sure if that is correct, or even more, I don't know why do I need to know the orbit's of planets in general . Your contribution is very valuable.
Many thanks.