In the simplified version of Kepler's third law,P² = a³,the units of the orbital period P and the semimajor axis a of the ellipses must be,respectively, A) seconds and meters. B) years and light years. C) years and meters. D) years and astronomical units.

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Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Kepler's third law relates the period (P) and semimajor axis (a) of an orbiting object to the mass of the central object. In the simplified version, we assume the mass of the central object is much greater than the orbiting object, so we can ignore it. Therefore, the units of P and a depend only on the units used to measure time and distance. The most commonly used units for astronomical distances are astronomical units (AU), defined as the average distance between Earth and the Sun (about 93 million miles). The most commonly used unit for astronomical time is years, which is the time it takes for Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun. Therefore, the units of P and a in Kepler's third law are years and astronomical units, respectively.

In the Simplified Version of Kepler's Third Law,P2 = A3,the

In the Simplified Version of Kepler's Third Law,P² = A³,the