How Can You Calculate Jupiter's Radius Using Europa's Orbital Data?

  • Thread starter Thread starter brookbj
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Gravitation
Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
1 replies · 3K views
brookbj
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
The moon Europa, of the planet Jupiter, has an orbital period of 3.55 days and an average distance from the centre of the planet equal to 671,000 Km. If the magnitude of the gravitational acceleration at the surface of Jupiter is 2.36 times greater than that on the surface of the Earth, what is the radius of Jupiter? (hint: begin by calculating the rotation speed.

So I calculated the velocity and acceleration of the moon, but I am confused on how to calculate the radius without having the mass of Jupiter, is this where the 2.36 x g comes into play, do I use this to calculate the mass of Jupiter, which will then give me the radius.

thanks,
 
on Phys.org