Pluto and its moon Charon orbit a common center of mass with a period of P-6.387...

Transcribed Image Text:

Pluto and its moon Charon orbit a common center of mass with a period of P-6.387 days. The mass of Pluto is 0.0021 Me (where Me is the mass of the Earth). with a radius of 0.178 Re (where Re is the radius of the Earth). The mass of Charon is 0.00026 Me with a radius of 0.095 Re. You may assume circular orbits for this problem. A. Using Kepler's third law, calculate the distance between the center of Pluto and the center of Charon (this is the semi-major axis of the orbit of the Charon-Pluto system). Give your answer in units of meters. B. Using your answer from part (A), calculate the distance from the center of Pluto to the Center of Mass. Give your answer in units of meters. C. Compare your answer for the distance of Pluto from the Center of Mass with the radius of Pluto. Which is larger? (Discuss whether or not the center of mass of the system within Pluto or does it sit outside the planet?). Note that one of the posed definitions of a "planet" includes that statement that the center of mass of its system must lie within its radius. Does Pluto satisfy this? Pluto and its moon Charon orbit a common center of mass with a period of P-6.387 days. The mass of Pluto is 0.0021 Me (where Me is the mass of the Earth). with a radius of 0.178 Re (where Re is the radius of the Earth). The mass of Charon is 0.00026 Me with a radius of 0.095 Re. You may assume circular orbits for this problem. A. Using Kepler's third law, calculate the distance between the center of Pluto and the center of Charon (this is the semi-major axis of the orbit of the Charon-Pluto system). Give your answer in units of meters. B. Using your answer from part (A), calculate the distance from the center of Pluto to the Center of Mass. Give your answer in units of meters. C. Compare your answer for the distance of Pluto from the Center of Mass with the radius of Pluto. Which is larger? (Discuss whether or not the center of mass of the system within Pluto or does it sit outside the planet?). Note that one of the posed definitions of a "planet" includes that statement that the center of mass of its system must lie within its radius. Does Pluto satisfy this? Pluto and its moon Charon orbit a common center of mass with a period of P-6.387 days. The mass of Pluto is 0.0021 Me (where Me is the mass of the Earth). with a radius of 0.178 Re (where Re is the radius of the Earth). The mass of Charon is 0.00026 Me with a radius of 0.095 Re. You may assume circular orbits for this problem. A. Using Kepler's third law, calculate the distance between the center of Pluto and the center of Charon (this is the semi-major axis of the orbit of the Charon-Pluto system). Give your answer in units of meters. B. Using your answer from part (A), calculate the distance from the center of Pluto to the Center of Mass. Give your answer in units of meters. C. Compare your answer for the distance of Pluto from the Center of Mass with the radius of Pluto. Which is larger? (Discuss whether or not the center of mass of the system within Pluto or does it sit outside the planet?). Note that one of the posed definitions of a "planet" includes that statement that the center of mass of its system must lie within its radius. Does Pluto satisfy this? Pluto and its moon Charon orbit a common center of mass with a period of P-6.387 days. The mass of Pluto is 0.0021 Me (where Me is the mass of the Earth). with a radius of 0.178 Re (where Re is the radius of the Earth). The mass of Charon is 0.00026 Me with a radius of 0.095 Re. You may assume circular orbits for this problem. A. Using Kepler's third law, calculate the distance between the center of Pluto and the center of Charon (this is the semi-major axis of the orbit of the Charon-Pluto system). Give your answer in units of meters. B. Using your answer from part (A), calculate the distance from the center of Pluto to the Center of Mass. Give your answer in units of meters. C. Compare your answer for the distance of Pluto from the Center of Mass with the radius of Pluto. Which is larger? (Discuss whether or not the center of mass of the system within Pluto or does it sit outside the planet?). Note that one of the posed definitions of a "planet" includes that statement that the center of mass of its system must lie within its radius. Does Pluto satisfy this?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

A Calculating the distance between Pluto and Charon Step 1 Convert masses and radii to SI units Earth Mass M 59722 x 1024 kg Earth Radius Re 6371 x 10... View the full answer