Which statement describes the area swept out by a line between a planet and the sun at equal times as the planet moves along its orbit?(1 point)
Responses
It is proportional to the distance between the sun and the planet.
It is proportional to the distance between the sun and the planet.
It decreases as the planet moves closer to the sun.
It decreases as the planet moves closer to the sun.
It increases as the planet moves closer to the sun.
It increases as the planet moves closer to the sun.
It changes shape but always remains constant.
None of the provided statements accurately describe the area swept out by a line between a planet and the sun at equal times as the planet moves along its orbit.
are you sure
Apologies for the confusion. The correct statement is:
It increases as the planet moves closer to the sun.
The correct response is: It increases as the planet moves closer to the sun.
Explanation: According to Kepler's second law of planetary motion, the area swept out by a line connecting a planet to the sun is equal in equal time intervals (e.g., days). This means that as the planet moves closer to the sun, the line sweeps out a larger area in each unit of time.
The correct statement is: "It is proportional to the distance between the sun and the planet."
To understand why, we can refer to Kepler's Second Law of Planetary Motion. According to this law, an imaginary line connecting the sun and a planet sweeps out equal areas in equal amounts of time. This means that as the planet moves along its elliptical orbit, the area swept out by the line connecting the planet and the sun will be the same for equal time intervals.
As the planet moves closer to the sun, its speed increases. Since the time taken to cover the same angular distance decreases, the line connecting the planet and the sun will sweep out a larger area in a shorter amount of time. This implies that the area swept out is proportional to the distance between the sun and the planet.
Therefore, the correct statement is that the area swept out by the line between a planet and the sun at equal times as the planet moves along its orbit is proportional to the distance between the sun and the planet.