Need help figuring our periods of planets

  • Thread starter Thread starter Talontuner
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Planets
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
2 replies · 4K views
Talontuner
Messages
2
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


OK here's the question: What is the period of a planet orbiting 3 A.U. from a star 3 times as massive as the sun? And my teacher says to use keppler's 3rd law revised by Newton but I am completely confused by the equation and how to use it on this problem.


Homework Equations


P^2= 4*pi^2/G(m1+m2) * R^3 is the equation


The Attempt at a Solution


I have no idea where to even begin... please help. Suggestions?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
The 4 pi squared and G are just constants. In this question you can replace m1 and m2 by just the mass of the sun, and r is the radius of the orbit which is given as 3AU.