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: 57

Answer

The period is $~~0.71~years$

Work Step by Step

Let $R$ be the orbital radius of each star. The gravitational force provides the centripetal force for each star. We can find an expression for the period: $\frac{GM^2}{(2R)^2} = \frac{Mv^2}{R}$ $\frac{GM^2}{(2R)^2} = \frac{M(2\pi~R/T)^2}{R}$ $\frac{GM^2}{4R^2} = \frac{4\pi^2~M~R}{T^2}$ $T^2 = \frac{16\pi^2~R^3}{GM}$ $T = \sqrt{\frac{16\pi^2~R^3}{GM}}$ We can find the period: $T = \sqrt{\frac{16\pi^2~R^3}{GM}}$ $T = \sqrt{\frac{16\pi^2}{(6.67\times 10^{-11}~N~m^2/kg^2)(1.99\times 10^{30}~kg)}~(7.50\times 10^{10}~m)^3}$ $T = 2.24\times 10^7~s$ $T = (2.24\times 10^7~s)(\frac{1~year}{365\times 24\times 3600~s})$ $T = 0.71~years$ The period is $~~0.71~years$
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