Ask an Explainer

Q:

Which planets will orbit faster/slower and why?

A:

Johannes Kepler was an incredible scienist who discovered the laws of orbital motion for the planets in our solar system. His three laws can help us figure out the motion of any planet.

 

His third law shows us there is a relationship between the period of the orbit and the distance the planet is from the sun. The faster the planet is, the closer it is to the sun; and the farther away a planet is, the slower its orbital velocity will be.

Ask an Explainer
Categories: