PDA

View Full Version : Earth's velocity at apogee and perigee


gjfix47
Jul 19, 2009, 10:40 AM
What is the speed of the planet earth at its slowest and fastest in its orbit around the sun?

Capuchin
Jul 20, 2009, 01:21 AM
Use the formula for speed of an elliptical orbit:

v=\sqrt{GM\left({2\over{r}}-{1\over{a}}\right)}

for apogee and perigee radii r, semi-major axis a, and solar mass M.

Should give you the answer you're looking for.

gjfix47
Jul 21, 2009, 01:11 PM
What is the value for G, what is the value for M, what is the valuefor r, and what is the value for a? I was looking for answers like 20,000 miles per hour and 22,000 miles per hour.

Unknown008
Jul 22, 2009, 02:02 AM
You can Google that.

G is the universal Gravitational constant, which has a value of 6.67\times 10^{-11}
The Mass of the sun is roughly 2.0\times 10^{30}
You have to Google for the apogee and perigee 's values and for the value of the length of the semi-major axis.

ebaines
Jul 22, 2009, 09:20 AM
From:
Curious About Astronomy: How fast does the Earth go at perihelion and aphelion? (http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=614)

They use the same equation as Capuchin provided to show that the Earth's orbital velocity around the sun is about 29,300 m/s at aphelion (when the earth is furthest from the sun) and 30,300 m/s at perihelion (when the earth is closest to the sun).