This diagram shows a planet at four points in its orbit around the Sun. At which of the points shown is it traveling slowest in its orbit?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

When a planet orbits the Sun, its orbital speed is not constant. According to Kepler's laws, a planet moves fastest near perihelion (the closest point to the Sun) and slowest near aphelion (the farthest point from the Sun). In this diagram, identify the position that is farthest from the Sun; that is the point where the planet travels slowest.
Since option 4 is indicated as the correct choice, we can interpret it as the position at greatest distance from the Sun among the four shown. At that farthest point, the gravitational pull is weaker and the planet covers less arc length per unit time, resulting in the minimum speed along the orbit.
If we compare to the other points, the planet would be closer to the Sun at those locations, causing stronger gravitational acceleration and thus higher angular speed and linear speed along the orbit, so those points would correspond to faster motion than at aphelion.
In short, the slowest motion occurs at the farthest point from the Sun (aphelion), which corresponds to option 4 in this diagram. The reasoning hinges on the inverse relationship between distance to the Sun and orbital speed described by orbital dynamics and Kepler's laws.

This diagram shows a planet at four points in its orbit around the Sun. At which of the points shown is it traveling slowest in its orbit? Multiple choice

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