The period of Jupiter's orbit around the sun is approximately 12 years. What is the approximate distance from the sun to Jupiter?
A) 144 AU
B) 1728 AU
C) 42 AU
D) 5.2 AU
E) 2.3 AU

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Jupiter is a gas giant planet and is the fifth planet from the sun. The period of Jupiter’s orbit is given as 12 years which means it takes 12 years for Jupiter to complete one revolution around the sun. We can use Kepler’s third law which relates the period of revolution of a planet around the sun to its average distance from the sun.

T² = (4 π² / GM) x r³

Where,
T = period of revolution of planet around the sun
M = mass of the sun
G = gravitational constant
r = average distance of the planet from the sun

For Jupiter,
T = 12 years = 3.78 x 10⁸ seconds
M = 1.989 x 10³⁰ kg
G = 6.6743 x 10⁻¹¹ m³ /kg²

Substituting the values in the above equation we get, r = 7.78 x 10¹¹ m
Converting to Astronomical Units (AU), we have r = 5.2 AU approximately. Therefore, the approximate distance from the sun to Jupiter is 5.2 AU.

The Period of Jupiter's Orbit Around the Sun Is Approximately