How to solve planet orbital question

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around a physics problem involving a planet orbiting a star, where the goal is to determine the mass of the star using given parameters such as the orbital radius and the time for one complete revolution. The subject area includes concepts from gravitational physics and orbital mechanics.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Mathematical reasoning, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster describes their approach involving calculations of orbital speed and the application of gravitational force equations. They question the validity of their method. Other participants provide alternative methods and suggest that the approaches are fundamentally similar.

Discussion Status

The discussion is active, with participants sharing their methods and confirming that different approaches can yield similar results. There is no explicit consensus on the best method, but the dialogue indicates a productive exploration of the problem.

Contextual Notes

Participants are discussing the assumptions behind their calculations, including the use of gravitational force equations and the implications of orbital mechanics. There is a mention of the mass of the star being in the order of 10^30 kg, which may reflect a common assumption in such problems.

HelloMotto
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Ok I remeber a question on my physics test. where there's a planet orbiting a star in some other solar system.

heres what was given to me.
the radius,and the time it took for it to finish 1 revolution. I was asked to find the mass of the sun, that the planet was orbiting around

so here's what i did.

I calculated the distance, which was 2 pi r.

I divided that value by time and got the speed.

then i used Fc=FG formula.
mv^2/r = Gm1m2/r^2

with some cancellations, I am left with
v^2=Gm(star)/r

so i just isolated for m and solved it. I remember i got like some number x 10^30kg.

but did i do this question right? was this the right method of solving it?
 
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Sounds reasonable, the sun's mass is around 2^30 kg
 
i asked my friend how he had solved it, and he said he used
Fc=FG
4pi^2mr/T^2 = Gm1m2/r^2

does my method and his method work in this question?
 
It's the same thing, you can also use T = 2 [tex]\pi \sqrt{ ( r^3 / GM )}[/tex]
 

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