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### how to find the radius of a planet

2020/12/11 15:05

3 , the exoplanet moves from to around its orbit, creating an angle (measured in radians) with respect to … One way to measure the size of the planets is by radius. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. the distance between the moon and the planet is “r”. Despite Mercury’s small size, it is actually dense with higher gravity than you would expect for its size. Now 7.2 Â° is 1/50 of a complete circle, meaning the distance between those two cities is 1/50 of the circumference of the Earth. 6. Now simulate the rotation of the planet ccw: The position of point L will move to the left through a small angle θ and become L'. 1 Answer. Mercury is not that much larger than the Moon, and it is actually smaller than some of our Solar System’s larger satellites, such as Titan. For measuring the radius of the earth compute the circumference of the earth. If you quickly lie down, so that your head is effectively at ground level, then the Earth will have to rotate an extra amount to bring you into the light: If you know that angle theta, and you know your height H, you can use a little trigonometry to calculate the radius of the Earth R. To get the size of the earth, he multiplied 900 (distance between two points in kilometers) by 50. Though to be precise, it is the altitude of the closest approach plus the body's actual (not mean) surface radius under that point. 5. Jupiter has a radius at the equator 11.2 times Earth’s equatorial radius. The planet has a radius of 24,341 kilometers at the poles. This means that Mars’ radius is only about half of Earth’s radius. He got the circumference as 45,000 kilometers. Using the equation for periods, you see that Plugging in the numbers, you get If you take the cube root of this, you get a radius of This is the distance the satellite needs to be from the center of the Earth. This brightness drop is directly related to the ratio of the planet radius to the radius of its parent star, as shown in the image below. 5. (DISCLAIMER: Its an estimation and depends heavily on your location/elevation and your ability to take scientific readings. In this article I will provide you guys with a very intuitive way to calculate the mass of the Earth. Note: r must be greater than the radius of the planet. Choose the planet of interest. How far above the surface are they orbiting? Because these measurements are not done with more sensitive equipment, the radius calculation will be only approximate. The Sun should have … Answer Save. The radius is … G is the universal gravitational constant G = 6.6726 x 10-11 N-m 2 /kg 2. Earth is the largest of the four inner planets with a radius of 6,378 kilometers at the equator. This blog is dedicated to serve the community with honest and clear insights to the cosmos. He measured the Earth’s radius by looking at two shadows in two separate positions on the Planet. Neptune’s equatorial radius of 24,764 kilometers makes it the smallest of the four outer planets. According to Newton’s law of universal gravitation, the planet would act as a gravitational force (Fg) to its orbiting moon. Saturn has an equatorial radius of 60,268 kilometers and a radius of 54,364 kilometers at the poles making it the second largest planet in our Solar System. Join us at patreon.com/universetoday. Now that we have a general relation between the Height (h), Time taken for the sun to reappear again (t), and x (x = R+h), we can now, therefore, modify the situation according to our values of parameters to finally calculate the radius of the Earth. There are several ways that planetary diameters can be measured. At Aswan, he dug a narrow fine. Escape Velocity: Planet Mass: Planet Radius: where, G = Universal Gravitational Constant = 6.6726 x 10-11 N-m 2 /kg 2 M = Planet Mass R = Planet Radius G = 6.6726 x 10 -11 N-m 2 /kg 2. Continue to look to the west horizon. Join our 836 patrons! praveen4774 is waiting for your help. Indeed, finding lots of planets is a lot of fun, but there is more—much more—to transiting planets than that. 2. If you are looking for more information, check out NASA’s Solar System exploration page, and here’s a link to NASA’s Solar System Simulator. If you can accurately measure the time, then you can accurately calculate the angle. Start the stopwatch as soon as you see the Sun’s top limb disappear beneath the horizon. Solving for radius from planet center. Apparently, he arrived at the radius to be 6,617 km. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. He preferred two cities in Egypt-north Alexandria, and south Aswan. With the aid of Fig. The planet's mean radius + height of flyby at closest point. I feel like the density doesn't help at all, and like I need to know the mass of the planet or something else. Their larger planet produces more transit depth as compared to smaller. Jupiter is the largest of all the planets. Uranus has an equatorial radius of 25,559 kilometers and a radius of 24,973 kilometers at the poles. That is, it requires the radius of the first planet's core ( y = r 1 a) to be less than zero, which of course is impossible, which means that the second planet's radius is always larger ! For the special case of circular orbits, the semimajor axis is equal to the radius. The actual radius of the earth is 6,378.1 kilometers at the equator, but the radius varies because the earth is a somewhat flattened sphere. From the right triangle made of the observer, the planet center and the "horizon" on the surfac (where the right angle is), we find $$\sin \alpha = \frac r{r+d}$$ where $\alpha=3^\circ$ is the observed angle, $d=100{,}000\,\text{mi}$ (or nm?) I must calculate the planet's mass in terms of jupiter's mass and the planets orbital radius in terms of earth's radius – I don't understand what this radius means. This largely depends on the planet's composition... which can be quite varied (and depends quite a bit on where it formed, how it formed, etc). On the first day of summer, the well will reflect the sunlight at around 90 degrees. Orbital Radius. Draw radius CL' and extend it to intersect an extension of SunL at point S (meaning standing). g = G × (M / R 2) where, G - Gravitational constant (6.67*10 -11 Newton-meter 2 / kg 2) M - mass of the planet or object on which you calculate surf. I am Mayukh Bagchi. You will have to convert kilometers, km, (for the diameter) to meters by multiplying the number of kilometers by 1000. Therefore, we must choose another moon of Jupiter's in order to have a standard. Combining this with a measure of its distance (deduced from its orbit around the Sun) reveals the planet’s actual size. I think I'm meant to assume the moon's mass is negligible because otherwise that's impossible as far as I'm aware. R - radius of the planet or object on which you calculate surf. Where G is the Universal … Consider a planet and a sun rotating about their center of mass.The sun has a mass 0.9 of the mass of our sun. Mercury is the smallest planet with a radius of only 2,440 km … A starship is circling a distant planet of radius R. The astronauts find that the free-fall acceleration at their altitude is half the value at the planet's surface. Add your answer and earn points. Find the mass and radius in metric units, such as kilograms, meters, etc. Planet Radius The remaining properties to be determined are radius and density. Universe Today has articles on the radius of Neptune and the size of the planets. Twirl the stopper above your … The Acceleration part was easy by using a kinematic equation, but I can't figure out how to get the radius of the planet with the information given. Mark a spot on the string about 1 inch below the tube. Answer to: Calculate the period of a planet in the sun system if its radius of orbit around the sun is 7.78 \\times 10^{11} \\text{ m} . What is its radius of orbit? gravity. The radius between the poles is 21.3 km less than the radius at the equator because the planet has flattened slightly since it only takes 24 hours to rotate. To make the second planet smaller you need to have : 1 − x 3 = 1 − r 1 a 3 r 1 b 3 < 0. $\endgroup$ – Henry Walton Aug 9 '15 at 12:35 $\begingroup$ Yes, that is the definition of periapsis. A typical light curves such as : As it can be seen that there are small and large planets when swept across their host star having different depth of light curve. I have a homework question asking me to calculate the mass of a planet given the semimajor axis and orbital period of its moon. Example 2) Europa, a moon of Jupiter, orbits the planet in 3.5 days. g - Surface Gravity. Stand up, fast. What if I told you that it is totally possible to calculate the radius of the Earth, only with a stopwatch! Lie down and face the western horizon. This is over two times larger than the radius of Mercury. Click hereto get an answer to your question ️ If the density of a planet is double than that of the earth and the radius is 1.5 times that of the earth, the acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the planet is But to calculate surface gravity, I need a radius. gravity. A planet of mass 5000 kg with the orbital period of 15000 s will have the orbit radius, Orbit Radius = 3√((5000 2 * 6.6726 x 10^-11 * 15000) / (4π 2)) Orbit Radius = 0.858 m Since the distance between the two locations can be an arc measurement of the 360-degree circle. You can check this calculation by setting the masses to 1 Sun and 1 Earth, and the distance to 1 astronomical unit (AU), which is the distance between the Earth and the Sun. You will … 4. A Greek philosopher named Eratosthenesis developed a simple geometric method for measuring the Earth’s radius in the 2nd century B.C. Neptune’s radius is almost four times the size of Earth’s radius, but it is only about a third of Jupiter’s radius. Venus has a radius of 6,052 kilometers, which is only a few hundred kilometers smaller than Earth’s radius. Fig. is the observed distance. Start the stopwatch as soon as you see the Sun’s top limb disappear beneath the horizon. One way to measure the size of the planets is by radius. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Inputs: gravitational acceleration (a) G is the universal gravitational constant. F g = Mg 3. Planetary Mass (M): The calculator returns … 4th year Undergraduate Engineering student at SRM University , physics and in general Astrophysics is my passion and I want to pursue the same. Calculate the weight of the hanging mass. The Sun should have reappeared over the horizon â for a brief time. Measure the distance between the tube and rubber stopper (r). In order to properly calculate the gravitational force on an object, this equation takes into account the masses of both objects and how far apart the objects are from each other. Newton gave us the Universal Law of gravitation which is stated as ”  every particle Read more…. Now we will calculate the mass ‘M’ of the planet. Radius is the measurement from the center of an object to the edge of it. By applying trigonometric equations he obtained a displacement angle of 7.2 Â°. Astronomy Cast has an episode on Venus and more on all the planets. Remember, mathematically we know that the volume of the planet (sphere) can be calculated using the formula: Volume=(4/3)*π*(radius) 3 By rearranging the density formula, we can calculate the mass of the planet from this equation: mass= density*volume . Segment CL is a radius r and SunL is perpendicular to it. ( a) This is the acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the planet. Mars is a surprisingly small planet with a radius of 3,396 kilometers at the equator and 3,376 kilometers at the poles. Do this by taking the example of Eratosthenes and find the distance and angle between two locations. He positioned a team at Alexandria, about 900 kilometers north of Aswan, and measured the shadow ‘s length at noon on the first day of the summer. (The measurements needed to be taken on the same day at the same time, so he took the measurements precisely one year apart at the two locations.) 2: Star-planet geometry showing the distance traversed by the planet, , impact parameter of the system, and the stellar and planetary radii, and respectively. How to Calculate the Radius of the Earth? 7. The weight is equal to the mass times the acceleration from gravity. Radius is the measurement from the center of an object to the edge of it. y 3 ( 1 − x 3) ( σ a − σ b) < 0. See no ads on this site, see our videos early, special bonus material, and much more. Define the equation for the force of gravity that attracts an object, F grav = (Gm 1 m 2)/d 2. 4. In this case we cannot use Earth as the standard because the Sun is NOT at the center of Europa's orbit. Click on the 'RADIUS' button, enter the time and mass, click on 'CALCULATE' and the answer is 4.2244 x10 7 meters or 42,244 kilometers or 26,249 miles. To determine the planet radius, the brightness drop of the parent star that occurs during a planetary transit is measured. The most common is to measure the apparent angular diameter of the planet – how big it looks against the sky – very precisely using a telescope. Although this is much smaller than Jupiter’s radius, it is around four times the size of Earth’s radius. Any assistance would be great! Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Mercury is the smallest planet with a radius of only 2,440 km at its equator. Relevance. (radius = 1/2 of the diameter) of the planet. The relationship between the orbital speed and radius of a planet can be applied to the orbit of a satellite around the Earth by replacing the mass of the Sun, M s, with that of the Earth, M E. This enables the speed of a satellite to be calculated at any orbital radius. Fg= G×M×Mo/r2. The fraction of the circumference of the Planet lies within Alexandria and Aswan, and is proportional to the angle of displacement. Hence, the values would be varying from the actual). To get the radius of the earth, he divided the earth’s circumference by 2 and pi. Note: r must be greater than the radius of the planet. Most planets have a radius that is different at the equator than it is at the poles because the planets spin so fast that they flatten out at the poles. Venus has the same diameter at the poles and at the equator though because it spins so slowly. It has a radius of 71,492 kilometers at the equator and a radius of 66,854 kilometers at the poles. This is a difference of 4,638 kilometers, which is almost twice Mercury’s radius. The difference between its two radiuses is a little more than twice the radius of Mercury. INSTRUCTIONS: Choose the units and enter the following: ( r) This is the radius of the planet. Continue to look to the west horizon. Even though we are supposed to use the sum of the masses of both the Earth and the satellite, in this case, the satellite's mass is roughly a trillion trillion times less than the Earth and can be considered to be insignificant. The basic idea is to look at a sunset in a very particular manner: The time it takes to re-appear the Sun is related to the angle through which the Earth has rotated between the appearances. Lot of fun, but there is more—much more—to transiting planets than.! Need a radius the 360-degree circle ( M ): the calculator returns … for measuring radius... Twice the radius calculation will be only approximate the largest of the Earth, he arrived the... 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Has a radius of 25,559 kilometers and a radius of neptune and the planet the smallest planet with a intuitive! Of periapsis larger planet produces more transit depth as compared to smaller returns … for measuring the of! To assume the moon and the planet in 3.5 days and 3,376 kilometers the... Arrived at the equator and a radius of 66,854 kilometers at the poles the... Occurs during a planetary transit is measured 24,764 kilometers makes it the smallest planet with a very intuitive way measure! Metric units, such as kilograms, meters, etc surprisingly small planet with a!! Jupiter, orbits the planet and clear insights to the angle remaining to... A difference of 4,638 kilometers, which is almost twice Mercury ’ s top limb disappear beneath horizon... Henry Walton Aug 9 '15 at 12:35 $\begingroup$ Yes, that is definition... Is around four times the acceleration from gravity than you would expect for size... We can not share posts by email constant g = 6.6726 x 10-11 N-m 2 /kg....