What Is the Mass of a Planet Given Its Moon's Orbital Period and Radius?

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SUMMARY

The mass of a planet can be determined using the orbital period and radius of its moon, applying Newton's law of gravitation. Given the gravitational constant G = 6.67259 × 10^−11 Nm²/kg², an orbital period of 2.08 days (converted to 179712 seconds), and an orbital radius of 5.04 × 10^5 km (converted to 5.04 × 10^8 m), the calculations yield a mass of approximately 1.5 × 10^27 kg. This value aligns with the expected mass range for a planet, correcting an initial miscalculation that suggested a mass comparable to the Sun.

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Greywolfe1982
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Homework Statement



Given: G = 6.67259 × 10^−11 Nm2/kg2
A small Moon of a planet has an orbital period of 2.08 days and an orbital radius of 5.04 × 10^5 km.
From these data, determine the mass of the planet. Answer in units of kg.

Homework Equations



FG=FC
FG=Gm1m2/r^2
FC=mv^2/r

The Attempt at a Solution



First step was to convert into meters/seconds:
2.08 days to 179712 seconds
5.04x10^5km to 5.04x10^8m

Use v=d/t (or v=2\pir/T) and get a velocity of 17621.1m/s. Use Fg=Fc and simplify to Gm/r=v^2, rearrange to v^2r/G=m. I crunched out the numbers and get a mass that's nearly as large as the sun. The problem states it's a planet, so I'm assuming I'm doing something wrong...what is it?
 
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I don't see any error in your calculation... What is your final number you get for mass? Note the mass of the sun is about 2*10^30 kg.
 
Doh, I guess I should have done half a second of research before I posted this topic.

For some reason I thought the Earth was ...x10^10, rather than x10^24. I got an answer of something (don't have the papers by me now)x10^27, which now seems fairly reasonable.
 

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