Imagine you are travelling though the asteroid belt. Which of the following would you expect to observe?
A) All asteroids in the asteroid belt have shorter orbital period than Earth.
B) Asteroids closer to Mars have longer orbital period than those closer to Jupiter.
C) All asteroids within the asteroid belt have the same orbital period.
D) Asteroids closer to Mars have shorter orbital periods than those closer to Jupiter.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Asteroids closer to Mars (which is closer to the Sun than Jupiter) have shorter orbital periods than those closer to Jupiter due to Kepler's third law, which states that the orbital period of a planet (or asteroid, in this case) increases with the semi-major axis of its orbit.

Imagine You Are Travelling Though the Asteroid Belt