Two of Kepler's laws of planetary motion applied to Earth are that the radius vector from the Sun to Earth sweeps out equal areas in equal times,and that Earth's orbit is an ellipse with the Sun at one focus.One consequence of these is that
A) Earth must rotate on its axis.
B) the Sun must rotate on its axis.
C) Earth moves at different orbital speeds at different times of the year.
D) Earth's orbital plane lies in the same plane as the orbits of the other planets.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The first law states that the radius vector from the Sun to Earth sweeps out equal areas in equal times, which means that Earth moves faster in its orbit when it is closer to the Sun and slower when it is farther away. This causes Earth to move at different orbital speeds at different times of the year. The second law states that Earth's orbit is an ellipse with the Sun at one focus, which is a description of the shape of the orbit and does not have any direct implications for Earth's rotation or the orientation of its orbital plane in relation to other planets.

Two of Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion Applied to Earth