P HILIPPINE S CIENCE H IGH S CHOOL - C ENTRAL M INDANAO C AMPUS

P HYSICS 4: E XPERIMENTAL , T HEORETICAL AND C OMPUTATIONAL (ETC) P HYSICS

Planets & Moons

Ryan Levin M. Tobilloa∗
a
Philippine Science High School - Central Mindanao Campus, Nangka, Balo-i, Lanao del Norte, 9217,
Philippines

1. Introduction Solution:
A satellite is a moon, planet, or machine that or- m1 ms ms v 2
bits a planet or a star by means if their gravitational G 2
=
R R
force. There are two kinds of satellites: natural ms ( 2πR 2
m1 ms T )
satellites such as the moon orbiting the earth and G =
R2 R
artificial satellites such as the International Space 2 2

Station orbiting the Earth. The force of interaction m1 ms ms ( 4πT 2R )

G =
between a satellite and the object it orbits around is R2 R
given by the Universal Law of Gravitation: m1 ms 4π 2 Rms
G =
m1 ms R2 T2
Fg = G (1) 1 m1 ms 4π 2 Rms 1
R2 (G )=( )
ms R2 T2 ms
2
·m
where G = 6.67 × 10−11 Nkg 2 , m1 is the mass of m1 4π 2 R
the object, ms is the mass of the satellite, and R is G 2 =
R T2
the distance between the centers of the objects. T 2 m1 4π 2 R T 2
If we assume the orbit of a satellite to be approx- (G 2 ) = ( 2 )
R R T R
imately circular, we can consider the force of the T2
object on satellite as the centripetal force with the (Gm1 ) = 4π 2
R3
following expression:
T 2 (Gm1 ) 4π 2
=
m1 ms ms v 2 R3 Gm1 Gm1
G = (2)
R 2 R T2 4π 2
=
The speed of the satellite v can be expressed in R3 Gm1
terms of the size or circumference of the orbit and
the period T for on complete cycle of the orbit using 2.2.
the equation: ii. How are the orbital radius and orbital period
2πR related? How do you obtain a linear plot from this
v= (3)
T relationship?

From equation 4, we can multiply both sides by

R3 to get the relationship between R and T. From
2. Analysis the final equation, we can see that T 2 is directly
proportional to R3 , that is T 2 is equal to R3 times a
2.1. constant k.
i. Show by means of mathematical derivation,
how equations (2) and (3) lead to Kepler’s Third T2 4π 2
Law of Planetary Motion: =
R3 Gm1
2
T2 4π 2 T 4π 2
= (4) R3 ( 3 ) = ( )R3
R 3 Gm1 R Gm1
4π 2
T2 = ( )R3
Gm1
∗ E-mail address: rlmtobillo@cmc.pshs.edu.ph T 2 = kR3 (5)
 PHY4: P LANETS & M OONS — 2

From the established relationship, it can be sur- 2.4.

mised that as the value T increases, the value of R iv. Plot each set of data in a spread sheet, add a
also increases. linear fit, and show the equation of the linear fit.
If given data on the Period (T) and Radius (R),
it is possible to create a linear plot from the given Radius3 (km3 ) Period2 (days2 )
data. Equation 5 shows that T 2 is equal to R3 times Jupiter 1.0926×1016 2.7852×102
a constant k. This relationship is similar to an equa- 7.4938×1016 3.1298×100
tion of the line y = mx + b, where T 2 is y, R3 3.0198×1017 1.2611×10
is x, and k is the slope. If the given data is linear 1.2250×1018 5.1188×10
and strictly follows the relationship between R3 and 6.6765×1018 2.7852×102
T 2 , it is possible to obtain an equation of a line that
describes the relationship using only two points.
Using the two-point form of the equation of the
line, it is possible to obtain a line that describes the
relationship between R3 and T 2 .
y1 − y2
(y − y1 ) = ( )(x − x1 )
x1 − x2
If the data set given does not strictly follow the
relationship between R3 and T 2 , we use another
set of equations to calculate the equation of a line.
Since the data is not linear, we use an equation of Figure 1. Linear plot of R3 and T 2 of Jupiter, with the
a line that generally describes the relationship be- equation: y = 4.17 × 10−17 x + 0.0228
tween the data points. To get the equation of the
line that fits the data sets, we need to calculate the
slope m and the y-intercept b using the following Radius3 (km3 ) Period2 (days2 )
equations: Uranus 8.2791×1016 7.5792×10
N (ΣXY ) − (ΣX)(ΣY ) 1.9775×1017 1.8126×102
m= 1.8815×1016 1.7174×10
N (ΣX 2 ) − (ΣX)2
6.9942×1015 6.3523×100
2.1859×1015 1.9979×100
(ΣX)2 (ΣY ) − (ΣXY )(ΣX)
b=
N (ΣX 2 ) − (ΣX)2
where ΣX is the sum of all x values, ΣY is the
sum of all y values, ΣXY is the sum of all of the
products of x and y, ΣX 2 is the sum of the squares
of x, and N is the number of the data sets.
After getting the values for b and m, we substitute
them to the formula of the equation of the line to get
the linear fit of the data set.
y = mx + b
Figure 2. Linear plot of R3 and T 2 of Uranus, with the
2.3. equation: y = 9.17 × 10−16 x − 0.0566
iii. What is the significance of the slope of such
linear plot?
Radius3 (km3 ) Period2 (days2 )
The slope of the linear plot, represents the change Saturn 3.4753×1015 4.8233×10−1
in the y-value for every unit change in the x-value. 6.3852×1015 8.881×10−1
So for the case of Periods and Radii, assuming 1.3485×1016 1.8775×100
that period2 is the y-axis, the slope represents the 2.5584×1016 3.5638×100
change of T 2 for every unit change of R3 . With the 5.3753×1016 7.4907×100
slope given, we can calculate all the values of R3 or 1.4640×1017 2.0408×10
T 2 given that one of the other value is given using
Equation 5.

R.L.M., Tobillo • AY 2019 - 2020

3 — PHY4: P LANETS & M OONS

2.5.2. Mass of Uranus

Using the slope of the equation of the line as k,
we can calculate the mass of Uranus.
4π 2
mu = ( )
Gk
4π 2
mu = 2
·m2
(6.67 × 10−11 Nkg 2 )(9.17 × 10−16 days
km3
)( 86400sec
1day
1km 3
)2 ( 1000m )
mu = 8.6464 × 1025 kg

Figure 3. Linear plot of R3 and T 2 of Saturn, with the 2.5.3. Mass of Saturn
equation: y = 1.39 × 10−16 x − 0.0025 Using the slope of the equation of the line as k,
we can calculate the mass of Saturn.
4π 2
Radius3 (km3 ) Period2 (days2 ) ms = (
Gk
)
Neptune 1.1059×1014 8.6669×10−2 4π 2
1.2500×1014 9.7023×10−2 ms = 2
·m2
(6.67 × 10−11 Nkg 2 )(1.39 × 10−16 days
km3
)( 86400sec 1km 3
)2 ( 1000m )
1.4470×1014 1.1199×10−1 1day

2.3833×1014 1.8382×10−1 ms = 5.7042 × 1026 kg

3.9869×1014 3.0764×10−1 2.5.4. Mass of Neptune
Using the slope of the equation of the line as k,
we can calculate the mass of Neptune.
4π 2
mn = ( )
Gk
4π 2
mn = 2
N ·m2
(6.67 × 10−11 kg 2
)(7.68 × 10−16 days
km3
)( 86400sec
1day
1km 3
)2 ( 1000m )
mn = 1.0324 × 1026 kg

3. References
Figure 4. Linear plot of R3 and T 2 of Neptune, with the
equation: y = 7.68 × 10−16 x − 0.0011 1. (n.d.). Retrieved from Understand-
ing Kepler’s Law of Planetary Motion:
https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circles/Lesson-
4/Kepler-s-Three-Laws
2. Howell, E. (2017, October 27). Future US Inc. Retrieved
2.5. from Space: https://www.space.com/24839-satellites.html
v. Compute for the mass of each planet from the 3. Massey University. (2012, Novem-
slopes of your graphs. ber 21). Retrieved from MathsFirst:
http://mathsfirst.massey.ac.nz/Algebra/StraightLinesin2D/Slope.htm
2
4π
Since we now from Equation 5 that k = ( Gm 1
),
we can manipulate the equation to get the value of
m1 which is the mass of the planet.

4π 2
k=( )
Gm1
4π 2
m1 = ( )
Gk

2.5.1. Mass of Jupiter

Using the slope of the equation of the line as k,
we can calculate the mass of Jupiter.
4π 2
mj = ( )
Gk
4π 2
mj = 2
N ·m2
(6.67 × 10−11 kg 2
)(4.17 × 10−17 days
km3
)( 86400sec
1day
1km 3
)2 ( 1000m )
mj = 1.9014 × 1027 kg

R.L.M., Tobillo • AY 2019 - 2020