I need to know what a semimajor axis of a planet for my math reasearch paper.
2006-09-16 07:10:44 · 4 answers · asked by Ashley A 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
The long axis of the ellipse is called the major axis, while the short axis is called the minor axis (adjacent figure). Half of the major axis is termed a semimajor axis. The length of a semimajor axis is often termed the size of the ellipse. It can be shown that the average separation of a planet from the Sun as it goes around its elliptical orbit is equal to the length of the semimajor axis. Thus, by the "radius" of a planet's orbit one usually means the length of the semimajor axis.
2006-09-16 07:17:12 · answer #1 · answered by Shintz62 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The semimajor axis is the familiar of the perihelion and aphelion distances. To get the eccentricity, divide the variation between the semi and the two the aphelion or perihelion distance by potential of the semimajor axis. EDIT: i don't understand a thank you to do the shuttle time.
2016-12-18 11:23:21 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In geometry, the term semi-major axis (also semimajor axis) is used to describe the dimensions of ellipses and hyperbolae.
2006-09-16 07:26:08 · answer #3 · answered by stephaniea 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Search on yahoo, google, or wikipedia.org.
2006-09-16 07:15:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋