The Planet Mercury Travels in an Elliptical Orbit with Eccentricity $0.703$

question 56

Multiple Choice

The planet Mercury travels in an elliptical orbit with eccentricity $0.703$ . Its minimum distance from the Sun is $8 \times 10 ^ { 7 } \mathrm {~km}$ . If the perihelion distance from a planet to the Sun is $a ( 1 - e )$ and the aphelion distance is $a ( 1 + e )$ , find the maximum distance (in km) from Mercury to the Sun.

• A) \(45.9 \times 10 ^ { 7 } \mathrm {~km}\)
• B) \(48.0 \times 10 ^ { 7 } \mathrm {~km}\)
• C) \(0.5 \times 10 ^ { 7 } \mathrm {~km}\)
• D) \(26.9 \times 10 ^ { 7 } \mathrm {~km}\)
• E) \(50.0 \times 10 ^ { 7 } \mathrm {~km}\)

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Definitions:

Experimental Group

The group in an experiment that receives the treatment or intervention being tested, in contrast to the control group.

Control Group

In experimental research, a group of subjects that does not receive the experimental treatment, serving as a baseline to compare with the experimental group.

Extraneous Variable

In experimental research, a variable not controlled that could impact the outcome, potentially introducing error.

Independent Variable

In an experiment, the variable that is manipulated by the researcher to observe its effects on the dependent variable.