Question

The planet Mercury takes 176 days to do one spin around its pole. Compared to the Earth,

Answer 1

Answer:

The sun would appear to move more slowly across Mercury's sky.

Explanation:

This is because, the time it takes to do one spin or revolution on Mercury is 176 days (which is its period), whereas, the time it takes to do one spin or revolution on the Earth is 1 day.

Since the angular speed ω = 2π/T where T = period

So on  Mercury, T' = 176days = 176 days × 24 hr/day × 60 min/hr × 60 s/min = ‭15,206,400‬ s

So, ω' = 2π/T'

= 2π/15,206,400‬ s

= 4.132 × 10⁻⁷ rad/s

So on  Earth, T" = 1 day = 1 day × 24 hr/day × 60 min/hr × 60 s/min = ‭‭86,400‬ s

So, ω" = 2π/T"

= 2π/86,400‬ s

= 7.272 × 10⁻⁵ rad/s

Since ω' = 4.132 × 10⁻⁷ rad/s << ω" = 7.272 × 10⁻⁵ rad/s, the sun would appear to move more slowly across Mercury's sky.