Kepler's third law, as derived by Newton from the law of gravitation, applies
A) to all situations where two objects orbit each other solely under the influence of their mutual gravitational attraction.
B) only to situations similar to planets orbiting the Sun, where the mass of the orbiting body is small compared to the mass of the object being orbited.
C) accurately only when close to the Sun and becomes less accurate with increasing distance from the Sun.
D) only to planets orbiting the Sun.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Kepler's third law, as generalized by Newton, applies to any two objects that orbit each other solely under the influence of their mutual gravitational attraction, not just to planets orbiting the Sun. This generalization is a consequence of Newton's law of universal gravitation, which extends the applicability of Kepler's laws beyond the specific cases for which they were originally formulated.

Kepler's Third Law, as Derived by Newton from the Law