Astronomy 3

Spring 2015

Problem Set #1
Due Wednesday Feb 18
Please explain your reasoning and show your work on each problem.
1. Suppose the Earths mass is twice as large as it is, but is at the same distance
from the Sun. How would this affect its orbital period around the Sun?
2. Mars orbit has a semi-major axis of 1.5 AU. From Keplers third law, calculate
Mars period using ratios.
3. Explain why Keplers second law implies that a planet moves on its orbit nonuniformly. That is, it moves faster in some parts of its orbit and slower in
others.
4. Astronauts in orbit around the Earth are weightless. Why are they then not
massless?
5. Imagine that you are in a rocket ship far from any celestial object so there is
no gravity and the rocket ship is accelerating in the forward direction. The
floor of the rocket ship is perpendicular to the direction of motion. Imagine
further that there is a scale on the floor of the rocket ship. If youre standing
on the scale, would it show that you had weight or not? Explain.