The greater the speed of a satellite, the shorter its orbital period. T/F

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The greater the speed of a satellite, the shorter its orbitalperiod. T/F

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TRUE BECAUSE EXPLAINATION Keplers 2nd Law A line connecting the Sun and planet sweeps out equal areas in equal times That is the orbital speed of any one planet varies inversely with its distance from the Sun actually orbital speed varies inversely with the squareroot of the distance but you neednt worry about that detail This one you can understand conceptually once you understand Newtons Laws of Motion and Law of Gravity If the planet changes its distance from the Sun as it orbits then the force of gravity between them must change If the force that the Sun exerts on the planet increases as the planet moves closer then the acceleration of the planet must increase resulting in a higher orbital speed and vice versa See You dont need a single equation Lets review where this comes from referring back to a couple of equations only as reminders of the relationships between physical concepts For any force on any mass F m x a a is the acceleration of mass m Newtons 2nd Law of Motion The force of gravity between 2 bodies and Newtons 2nd Law of Motion Fgrav M1 G M2 d2 M1 a1 M2 G M1 d2 M2 a2 Since the distance between the Suns center and the planets center d changes the gravitational force between them does too Comparing the expressions for gravitational force with the general force law Newtons 2nd Law of Motion one can see that acceleration of M1lets say the Sun is G M2 d2 and that of M2the planet See Answer

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