How to calculate the speed of a satellite around the sun.

AI Thread Summary
To calculate the speed of a satellite around the sun, two formulas are discussed: one involving the semi-major axis and eccentricity, and another using the gravitational parameter. The first formula yields a speed of approximately 29.75 km/s, while the second produces an incorrect result of 1.32 x 10^17. Clarification reveals a missing bracket in the second equation, which should be correctly formatted as sqrt(GM(2/r - 1/a). A user suggests checking calculations against a Wikipedia example to ensure proper unit conversion and avoid errors. Ultimately, the expected speed should be around 10 km/s, indicating a calculation error in the initial attempt.
Francis Forget
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Hi guys,
I'm currently doing a little project an I need to calculate the speed of a satellite around the sun! I'm currently trying with the Earth, but i have some problem.
When I'm using this formula : (2*Pi*a*Sqrt(1-e2))/T(1±e)
I get an answer in km/s which seams pretty good. (29,75 km/s)
But when I'm using this one : Sqrt(G*M*(2/r)-(1/a)) I'm getting 1,32*1017
I don't really know how I can transform that answer into something in km/s

If I'm not clear enough, feel free to ask me questions!

Thanks!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Drakkith said:
I'm not too familiar with orbital mechanics. Could you tell me what equation you're using here?

Yeah, I'm using the equation listed above but I'm going to link you different image where it's clearly listed ! Thank you very much for helping me !

Eq1 : http://i.imgur.com/GYaHMLJ.png
Where Vp is Speed,
a is the length of the semi-major axis of the elliptical orbit
e is the eccentricity
Eq2 : http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/6/6/d/66dd08fa58f176503e2f0b6603769f4d.png
Where V is Speed,
μ is the standard gravitational parameter,
r is the distance at which the speed is to be calculated
a is the length of the semi-major axis of the elliptical orbit
Image 3 : http://i.imgur.com/zzmlLKQ.png
Here is my project so far, as you can see, my answers aren't good when it comes to the second equation!
 
Last edited:
Bandersnatch said:
Is that the actual equation you're using? You missed a pair of brackets there.
Should be:
##\sqrt{GM(2/r-1/a)}##
see here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_speed#Precise_orbital_speed
Thanks you ! But it's worse now... I'm getting :
upload_2015-4-2_16-30-38.png

What's the unit of this? How can I convert it to km/s ?

Thanks!
 
See the wikipedia link. They do the exact same calculation you're doing as an example, with numbers and units. The ##\mu## in their equation is just the same as ##GM##.
 
If you get 1016 it is a calculation error. Do you square the product instead of taking the square root?

Quick estimate using SI units: G is 10-10, M is 1030 , r and a are 1011 so 2/r is 10-11 and 1/a is half that value.
That means the product is about 108 and the square root is 10000 with units m/s, or 10km/s - which is the right order of magnitude.
 
Back
Top