Kepler’s Law of Planetary Motion

Kepler’s laws of planetary motion, in astronomy and classical physics, laws describing
the motions of the planets in the solar system. They were derived by the German
astronomer Johannes Kepler, whose analysis of the observations of the 16th-century
Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe enabled him to announce his first two laws in the year
1609 and a third law nearly a decade later, in 1618. Kepler himself never numbered
these laws or specially distinguished them from his other discoveries. Kepler was able
to summarize the carefully collected data of his mentor - Tycho Brahe - with three
statements that described the motion of planets in a sun-centered solar system.
Kepler's efforts to explain the underlying reasons for such motions are no longer
accepted; nonetheless, the actual laws themselves are still considered an accurate
description of the motion of any planet and any satellite.

Kepler’s Three Law:

1. Kepler’s Law of Orbits – The Planets move around the sun in elliptical orbits with
the sun at one focus.

2. Kepler’s Law of Areas – The line joining a planet to the Sun sweeps out equal
areas in equal interval of time.

3. Kepler’s Law of Periods – The square of the time period of the planet is directly
proportional to the cube of the semimajor axis of its orbit.

Kepler’s 1st Law of Orbits:

This law is popularly known as the law of orbits. The
orbit of any planet is an ellipse around the Sun with Sun
at one of the two foci of an ellipse. We know that planets
revolve around the Sun in a circular orbit. But according to
Kepler, he said that it is true that planets revolve around
the Sun, but not in a circular orbit but it revolves around
an ellipse. In an ellipse, we have two focus. Sun is located
at one of the foci of the ellipse.

The Law of Ellipses

Kepler's first law - sometimes referred to as the law of ellipses -
explains that planets are orbiting the sun in a path described as an
ellipse. An ellipse can easily be constructed using a pencil, two
tacks, a string, a sheet of paper and a piece of cardboard. Tack the
sheet of paper to the cardboard using the two tacks. Then tie the
string into a loop and wrap the loop around the two tacks. Take your pencil and pull the
string until the pencil and two tacks make a triangle (see diagram at the right). Then
begin to trace out a path with the pencil, keeping the string wrapped tightly around the
tacks. The resulting shape will be an ellipse. An ellipse is a special curve in which the
sum of the distances from every point on the curve to two other points is a constant.
The two other points (represented here by the tack locations) are known as the foci of
the ellipse. The closer together that these points are, the more closely that the ellipse
resembles the shape of a circle. In fact, a circle is the special case of an ellipse in which
the two foci are at the same location. Kepler's first law is rather simple - all planets orbit
the sun in a path that resembles an ellipse, with the sun being located at one of the foci
of that ellipse.

Kepler’s 2nd Law of Areas:

This law is known as the law of areas. The line joining a planet to the Sun sweeps out
equal areas in equal interval of time. The rate of change of area with time will be
constant. The Sun is located at the focus and the planets revolve around the Sun.

Assume that the planet starts revolving from point P1 and travels to P2 in a clockwise
direction. So it revolves from point P1 to P2, as it moves the area swept from P1 to P2is Δt.
Now the planet moves future from P3 to P4.and the area covered is Δt.

As the area traveled by the planet from P1 to P2 and P3 to P4 is

equal, therefore this law is known as the Law of Area. That is the
aerial velocity of the planets remains constant. When a planet is
nearer to the Sun it moves fastest as compared to the planet far
away from the Sun.

The Law of Equal Areas

Kepler's second law - sometimes referred to as the law of
equal areas - describes the speed at which any given planet will move while orbiting the
sun. The speed at which any planet moves through space is constantly changing. A
planet moves fastest when it is closest to the sun and slowest when it is furthest from
the sun. Yet, if an imaginary line were drawn from the center of the planet to the center
of the sun, that line would sweep out the same area in equal periods of time. For
instance, if an imaginary line were drawn from the earth to the sun, then the area swept
out by the line in every 31-day month would be the same. This is depicted in the
diagram below. As can be observed in the diagram, the areas formed when the earth is
closest to the sun can be approximated as a wide but short triangle; whereas the areas
formed when the earth is farthest from the sun can be approximated as a narrow but
long triangle. These areas are the same size. Since the base of these triangles are
shortest when the earth is farthest from the sun, the earth would have to be moving
more slowly in order for this imaginary area to be the same size as when the earth is
closest to the sun.

Kepler’s 3rd Law of Periods:

This law is known as the law of Periods. The square of the time period of the planet is
directly proportional to the cube of the semimajor
axis of its orbit.

T² ∝ a³
That means the time ‘ t ‘ is directly proportional to the
cube of the major axis. Let us derive the equation of
Kepler’s 3rd law. Let us suppose,

 m = mass of the planet

 M = mass of the Sun

 v = velocity in the orbit

So, there has to be a force of gravitation between the Sun and the planet.

F = GmMr²
Since it is moving in an elliptical orbit, there has to be a centripetal force.

Fc = mv²r²
Now, F = Fc

⇒ GMr = v²
Also, v = circumferencetime = 2πrt
Combining the above equations, we get

⇒ GMr = 4π²r²T²
TheT²Law= 4π2r3)GM
of Harmonies
⇒ T² ∝ r³
Kepler's third law - sometimes referred to as the law of harmonies - compares the
orbital period and radius of orbit of a planet to those of other planets. Unlike Kepler's
first and second laws that describe the motion characteristics of a single planet, the third
law makes a comparison between the motion characteristics of different planets. The
comparison being made is that the ratio of the squares of the periods to the cubes of
their average distances from the sun is the same for every one of the planets. As an
illustration, consider the orbital period and average distance from sun (orbital radius) for
Earth and mars as given in the table below.
Period Average T2/R3
Planet
(s) Distance (m) (s2/m3)
Earth 3.156 x 107 s 1.4957 x 1011 2.977 x 10-19
Mars 5.93 x 107 s 2.278 x 1011 2.975 x 10-19

Observe that the T2/R3 ratio is the same for Earth as it is for mars. In fact, if the
same T2/R3 ratio is computed for the other planets, it can be found that this ratio is
nearly the same value for all the planets (see table below). Amazingly, every planet has
the same T2/R3 ratio.
Period Average T2/R3
Planet
(yr) Distance (au) (yr2/au3)
Mercury 0.241 0.39 0.98
Venus .615 0.72 1.01
Earth 1.00 1.00 1.00
Mars 1.88 1.52 1.01
Jupiter 11.8 5.20 0.99
Saturn 29.5 9.54 1.00
Uranus 84.0 19.18 1.00
Neptune 165 30.06 1.00
Pluto 248 39.44 1.00
(NOTE: The average distance value is given in astronomical units where 1 a.u. is equal
to the distance from the earth to the sun - 1.4957 x 1011 m. The orbital period is given in
units of earth-years where 1 earth year is the time required for the earth to orbit the sun
- 3.156 x 107 seconds. )

Kepler's third law provides an accurate description of the period and distance for a
planet's orbits about the sun. Additionally, the same law that describes the T2/R3 ratio
for the planets' orbits about the sun also accurately describes the T2/R3 ratio for any
satellite (whether a moon or a man-made satellite) about any planet. There is something
much deeper to be found in this T2/R3 ratio - something that must relate to basic
fundamental principles of motion. In the next part of Lesson 4, these principles will be
investigated as we draw a connection between the circular motion principles discussed
in Lesson 1 and the motion of a satellite.
How did Newton Extend His Notion of Gravity to Explain Planetary Motion?
Newton's comparison of the acceleration of the moon to the acceleration of objects on
earth allowed him to establish that the moon is held in a circular orbit by the force of
gravity - a force that is inversely dependent upon the distance between the two objects'
centers. Establishing gravity as the cause of the moon's orbit does not necessarily
establish that gravity is the cause of the planet's orbits. How then did Newton provide
credible evidence that the force of gravity is meets the centripetal force requirement for
the elliptical motion of planets?

Recall from earlier in Lesson 3 that Johannes Kepler proposed three laws of planetary
motion. His Law of Harmonies suggested that the ratio of the period of orbit squared
(T2) to the mean radius of orbit cubed (R3) is the same value k for all the planets that
orbit the sun. Known data for the orbiting planets suggested the following average ratio:

k = 2.97 x 10-19 s2/m3 = (T2)/(R3)

Newton was able to combine the law of universal gravitation with circular motion
principles to show that if the force of gravity provides the centripetal force for the
planets' nearly circular orbits, then a value of 2.97 x 10-19 s2/m3 could be predicted for
the T2/R3 ratio. Here is the reasoning employed by Newton:

Consider a planet with mass Mplanet to orbit in nearly circular motion about the sun of
mass MSun. The net centripetal force acting upon this orbiting planet is given by the
relationship

Fnet = (Mplanet * v2) / R

This net centripetal force is the result of the gravitational force that attracts the planet
towards the sun, and can be represented as

Fgrav = (G* Mplanet * MSun ) / R2

Since Fgrav = Fnet, the above expressions for centripetal force and gravitational force
are equal. Thus,

(Mplanet * v2) / R = (G* Mplanet * MSun ) / R2

Since the velocity of an object in nearly circular orbit can be approximated as v =

(2*pi*R) / T,

v2 = (4 * pi2 * R2) / T2

Substitution of the expression for v2 into the equation above yields,

(Mplanet * 4 * pi2 * R2) / (R • T2) = (G* Mplanet * MSun ) / R2

By cross-multiplication and simplification, the equation can be transformed into

T2 / R3 = (Mplanet * 4 * pi2) / (G* Mplanet * MSun )

The mass of the planet can then be canceled from the numerator and the denominator
of the equation's right-side, yielding

T2 / R3 = (4 * pi2) / (G * MSun )

The right side of the above equation will be the same value for every planet regardless
of the planet's mass. Subsequently, it is reasonable that the T2/R3 ratio would be the
same value for all planets if the force that holds the planets in their orbits is the force of
gravity. Newton's universal law of gravitation predicts results that were consistent with
known planetary data and provided a theoretical explanation for Kepler's Law of
Harmonies.

Examples:

Kepler’s First Law of planetary motion states the following:

All the planets move in elliptical orbits, with the sun at one focus.

Or equivalently:

Each planet travels in an elliptical orbit around the sun, the sun being at one of the focal
points.

Below is an image illustrating Kepler’s first law for an arbitrary planet (image source:
Chapter 7 Review):
The orbital eccentricity of a planet or of an astronomical object is a parameter that
determines the amount by which its orbit around another body deviates from a perfect
circle. A value of 0 is a circular orbit, values between 0 and 1 form an elliptical orbit.

The eccentricity of the Earth's orbit is currently about 0.0167; the Earth's orbit is nearly
circular. Venus and Neptune have even lower
eccentricities. Over hundreds of thousands of years,
the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit varies from nearly
0.0034 to almost 0.058 as a result of gravitational
attractions among the planets.

Planet Mars has a relatively pronounced orbital

eccentricity of about 0.09; of the seven other planets in
the Solar System, only Mercury has a larger orbital
eccentricity. It is known that in the past, Mars has had

a much more circular orbit.

Here is an image showing the elliptical orbits (appearing close to circular orbits) of the
inner planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars (image source: 3D Solar System
Simulator):

Kepler’s Second Law of planetary motion

Kepler's Second Law

After studying a wealth of planetary data for the motion of the planets about the sun,
Johannes Kepler proposed three laws of planetary motion. Kepler's second law states
An imaginary line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out an equal area of space
in equal amounts of time.
The animation below depicts the elliptical orbit of a planet about the sun.

The dot pattern shows that as the planet is closest the sun, the planet is moving fastest
and as the planet is farthest from the sun, it is moving slowest. Nonetheless, the
imaginary line joining the center of the planet to the center of the sun sweeps out the
same amount of area in each equal interval of time.

Kepler’s Third Law of planetary motion

Question:

The average orbital distance of Mars is 1.52 times the average orbital distance of the
Earth. Knowing that the Earth orbits the sun in approximately 365 days, use Kepler's
law of harmonies to predict the time for Mars to orbit the sun.

Answer:

Given: Rmars = 1.52 • Rearth and Tearth = 365 days

Use Kepler's third law to relate the ratio of the period squared to the ratio of radius
cubed
(Tmars)2 / (Tearth)2 • (Rmars)3 / (Rearth)3
(Tmars)2 = (Tearth)2 • (Rmars)3 / (Rearth)3
(Tmars)2 = (365 days)2 * (1.52)3
(Note the Rmars / Rearth ratio is 1.52)
Tmars = 684 days