The planet Mercury travels in an elliptical orbit with eccentricity 0.403 .Its minimum distance from the Sun is km.If the perihelion distance from a planet to the Sun is a (1- e) and the aphelion distance is a (1+e) ,find the maximum distance (in km)from Mercury to the Sun.
A) km
B) km
C) km
D) km
E) km

Question

The planet Mercury travels in an elliptical orbit with eccentricity 0.403 .Its minimum distance from the Sun is  km.If the perihelion distance from a planet to the Sun is a (1- e) and the aphelion distance is a (1+e) ,find the maximum distance (in km)from Mercury to the Sun.
A) km 
B) km 
C) km 
D) km 
E) km

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The maximum distance from Mercury to the Sun can be found using the formula: 
maximum distance = (perihelion distance + aphelion distance)/2

Substituting the given values: 
maximum distance = (11eaae29_f48d_8a2e_87fe_a35784772f83_TB2067_11 + 11eaae29_f48d_8a2f_87fe_778c04ab287c_TB2067_11)/2 
maximum distance = 11eaae29_f48d_d752_87fe_1d121269ab65_TB2067_11

Therefore, the maximum distance from Mercury to the Sun is 11eaae29_f48d_d752_87fe_1d121269ab65_TB2067_11 km, which is answer choice C.

The Planet Mercury Travels in an Elliptical Orbit with Eccentricity