ICT Information and Communication Technologies Database + Spreadsheet + Graphing + Kepler`s 3rd Law = FUN!!

! Goal: Use relevant information stored within the www.nineplanets.org/data.html website, create a straight line graph to prove that Keplers 3rd Law is valid and use the graph to state the mass of the sun. Background: For many years before Newton thought of his Universal Law of Gravity man was interested in the movements of the planets. Many scientists measured the time periods and orbital radii of planets and moons. Using this data, Johann Kepler derived the following equation: r3 T2. Later, Newton showed how this could relate to the mass of the central body. Newtons equation proved that the centripetal force is proportional to the mass of the bodies and the distance between them: Assignment: 1. Show an equation progression using and r3 T2 to .

write an equation that allows you to use the radii and periods from the database to solve for the mass of the sun. 2. Create a straight line graph in Excel plotting r3 against T2 of all the planets. Please label the graph. 3. Use your graph to find the mass of the sun. Show your work. 4. sun the mass the Compare the mass of the computed using the equation progression with data from Neptune, to the of the sun found on the graph, to the actual mass of sun in the database. Comment on similarities or differences.