According to Kepler's 2nd law, during what month is Earth moving the fastest in its orbit?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

To tackle this question, we need to apply Kepler's 2nd law, which states that a planet sweeps out equal areas in equal times as it orbits the Sun. This means the planet moves fastest when it is closest to the Sun (perihelion) and slowest when it is farthest (aphelion).

Option: July
We would not expect the Earth to move fastest in July because, relative to the Sun, July occurs near aphelion for the Northern Hemisphere's summer, when Earth is somewhat farther from the Sun in its orbit. The faster motion happens near perihelion, not midsummer.

Option: September
September is toward the autumn, and in the orbital ellipse, Earth is not at perihelion. The speed near perihelion occurs earlier in the year, so September would not be the month of maximum orbital speed.

Option: April
April is in the part of the orbit after perihelion when Earth has moved away from the Sun a bit and is not at maximum speed. The speed progressively changes around perihelion, but April is not the peak.

Option: January
Perihelion occurs in early January, meaning Earth is closest to the Sun then. According to Kepler's 2nd law, being closest to the Sun yields the greatest orbital speed, so January is the month Earth moves fastest in its orbit.

In summary, the correct interpretation is that Earth travels fastest near perihelion, which happens in January, aligning with Kepler's 2nd law.

ASTR-1-45046-F25 Lecture: The Copernican Revolution

According to Kepler's 2nd law, during what month is Earth moving the fastest in its orbit?

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ASTR-1-45046-F25 Lecture: The Copernican Revolution

According to Kepler's 2nd law, during what month is Earth moving the fastest in its orbit?

View Explanation

Log in for full answers

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Kepler's second law states that the line joining the Sun to a planet

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Europa, a moon of Jupiter, has an orbital diameter of 1.34 x 109 m, and a period of 3.55 days. What is the mass of Jupiter?

According to Kepler's 2nd Law, comets on highly eccentric orbits should rarely be found

According to Kepler's third law, a planet's orbital period (time to complete one full orbit) is directly related to the planet's average

Kepler's 1st law states that all planetary orbits are circular.

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