A planet orbits a star in an elliptical path. What remains constant throughout i
Practice Questions
Q1
A planet orbits a star in an elliptical path. What remains constant throughout its orbit?
Angular momentum
Kinetic energy
Potential energy
Total energy
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
A planet orbits a star in an elliptical path. What remains constant throughout its orbit?
Correct Answer: Angular momentum
Step 1: Understand that a planet moves around a star in a path that is not a perfect circle, but an ellipse.
Step 2: Learn about angular momentum, which is a measure of how much motion an object has while rotating around a point.
Step 3: Recognize that angular momentum depends on the planet's speed and distance from the star.
Step 4: Know that in space, if no outside forces are acting on the planet (like other stars), its angular momentum stays the same.
Step 5: Conclude that even as the planet moves closer to or farther from the star in its elliptical orbit, its angular momentum remains constant.
Conservation of Angular Momentum – In the absence of external torques, the angular momentum of a system remains constant, which applies to planets in elliptical orbits.
