Question

An Earth satellite needs to have its orbit changed so the new orbit will be twice as far from the center of Earth as the original orbit. The new orbital period will be twice as long as the original period. O true O false

Answer 1

Answer:

False.

Explanation:

From Kepler's Third Law of plenetary motion, we know that:

"The square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit."

Or, as expressed in mathematical terms:

$\frac{a^3}{T^2}=constant$, where a is the semi-major axis of the orbit (the distance from the center), and T is the orbital period of the satellite.

From this expression we can clearly see that if the orbit's semi-major axis is doubled, orbital period will be $\sqrt{8}$ times longer to compensate the variation.