Fundamentals of Physics Extended (10th Edition)

Published by Wiley
ISBN 10: 1-11823-072-8
ISBN 13: 978-1-11823-072-5

Chapter 13 - Gravitation - Problems - Page 382: 49b

Answer

The comet's greatest distance from the sun is $~~6.4~R_p$

Work Step by Step

In part (a), we found that the semi-major axis is $~~a = 1.9\times 10^{13}~m$ We can find $R_a$, the aphelion distance: $R_a = ea+a$ $R_a = (0.9932)(1.9\times 10^{13}~m)+(1.9\times 10^{13}~m)$ $R_a = 3.8\times 10^{13}~m$ We can express this distance in terms of $R_p$, the mean orbital radius of Pluto: $\frac{R_a}{R_p} = \frac{3.8\times 10^{13}~m}{5.90\times 10^{12}~m}$ $R_a = 6.4~R_p$ The comet's greatest distance from the sun is $~~6.4~R_p$
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