Speed update of a comet in an ELLIPTICAL orbit

AI Thread Summary
A comet in an elliptical orbit around the Sun has a closest approach distance of 5e10 m and a speed of 9e4 m/s at that point. Its farthest distance extends beyond Pluto's orbit. To determine its speed at a distance of 6e12 m from the Sun, the conservation of energy principle should be applied. The initial attempts to calculate the speed were incorrect, yielding a result of around 3500 m/s. Understanding the necessary equations for conservation of energy is crucial for solving this problem accurately.
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A comet is in an elliptical orbit around the Sun. Its closest approach to the Sun is a distance of 5e10 m (inside the orbit of Mercury), at which point its speed is 9e4 m/s. Its farthest distance from the Sun is far beyond the orbit of Pluto. What is its speed when it is 6e12 m from the Sun? (This is the approximate distance of Pluto from the Sun.)



Homework Equations


Ug(r) = -G(m1*m2)/r
this is a guess, the problem is i don't know what equations to use

i tried to solve it with an incorrect method and got a speed of 3500 something m/s
 
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Have you tried the conservation of energy?
 
that's the problem, everyone says that and i have no idea what is needed equations are needed to figure that out what the conservation of energy is
 

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