Laboratory – Kepler’s Laws and Celestial Motion
In this lab, you will learn about the three laws determined by Johannes
Kepler in the early 17th Century. Kepler was employed by Tycho Brahe,
a Danish nobleman often considered the last of the great pre-telescope
observers. Brahe amassed thousands of pieces of data related to star
and planet positions. After Brahe’s death in 1601, Kepler began a
long arduous process of piecing this data into universal laws – or at
least what he thought were universal laws (Einstein shed greater light
on these in the 20th century).
In this lab, you will learn about the three laws determined by Johannes
Kepler in the early 17th Century. Kepler was employed by Tycho Brahe,
a Danish nobleman often considered the last of the great pre-telescope
observers. Brahe amassed thousands of pieces of data related to star
and planet positions. After Brahe’s death in 1601, Kepler began a
long arduous process of piecing this data into universal laws – or at
least what he thought were universal laws (Einstein shed greater light
on these in the 20th century).
Answer the questions below based on your observations and reading.
Questions – use diagrams where helpful.
1. What is the shape of a planetary orbit?
2. Where is the sun in this orbit?
3. Where or what is aphelion?
4. Where or what is perihelion?
5. What is the relationship between a circle and an ellipse? That is,
one is a special case of the other; explain.
6. What is eccentricity?
7. What is Kepler’s 1st Law?
8. Kepler’s 2nd Law refers to an “area” swept out by a planet. What does
this mean?
9. What does Kepler’s 2nd Law predict for the speeds of planets as they
are nearer to and farther from the sun?
10. When exactly is the Earth closest to the Sun?
11. How is this related to the seasons? That is, is this why we have
seasons? If not, what causes seasons?
12. What is Kepler’s 2nd Law?
13. What is an Astronomical Unit (AU)?
14. What is the period of Earth’s orbit?
15. What is a semi-major axis of an elliptical orbit? What does “semi”
mean in mathematics?
16. What is Kepler’s 3rd Law?
Questions – use diagrams where helpful.
1. What is the shape of a planetary orbit?
2. Where is the sun in this orbit?
3. Where or what is aphelion?
4. Where or what is perihelion?
5. What is the relationship between a circle and an ellipse? That is,
one is a special case of the other; explain.
6. What is eccentricity?
7. What is Kepler’s 1st Law?
8. Kepler’s 2nd Law refers to an “area” swept out by a planet. What does
this mean?
9. What does Kepler’s 2nd Law predict for the speeds of planets as they
are nearer to and farther from the sun?
10. When exactly is the Earth closest to the Sun?
11. How is this related to the seasons? That is, is this why we have
seasons? If not, what causes seasons?
12. What is Kepler’s 2nd Law?
13. What is an Astronomical Unit (AU)?
14. What is the period of Earth’s orbit?
15. What is a semi-major axis of an elliptical orbit? What does “semi”
mean in mathematics?
16. What is Kepler’s 3rd Law?
17. Give some general concluding remarks regarding Kepler’s laws.
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