Question

A planet has an orbital period of 3.24 years. What is the average distance of the planet from the sun?

2.19 AU
5.83 AU
10.5 AU
34.01 AU

Answer 1

Answer;

-5.83 AU

Explanation;

A year is defined as the time it takes a planet to complete one revolution of the Sun, for Earth this is just over 365 days. This is also known as the orbital period. Unsurprisingly the the length of each planet’s year correlates with its distance from the Sun.

Using the equation;

t² = a³

t = 3.24 years, the time it takes the planet to orbit .

a (astronomical units) = 3.24 ^3/2

= 5.83 anatomical units (AU).