Question

A planet is discovered orbiting the star 51 Peg with a period of four days (0.01 years). 51 Peg has the same mass as the Sun. Mercury's orbital period is 0.24 years, and Venus's is 0.62 years. The average orbital radius of this planet is:____________

Answer 1

Answer:

Less than Mercury's

Explanation:

According to third Kepler's law, the square of the planet's orbital period is proportional to the cube of the average orbital radius of the planet's orbit. The constant of proportionality depends only on the mass of the star, recall that 51 Peg has the same mass as the Sun. Since the orbital period of this planet is less than Mercury's, its average orbital radius is less than Mercury's.