Which of the following answers describes Kepler's laws?

APlanets orbit in elliptical patterns; the bigger the planet, the more gravitational pull; a planet's gravitational pull is stronger or weaker depending on its distance from the Sun.

BA planet's orbit covers equal distances in equal amounts of time; the speed of a planet's orbit depends on its distance from the Sun; the bigger the planet, the slower it moves.

CPlanets orbit in elliptical patterns; a planet's orbit covers equal areas in equal amounts of time; planets' orbits are shorter or longer depending on their distance from the Sun.

Choices a). and b). each include some truth
mingled with some nonsense.

Choice c). is in fact a scientifically sloppy but intuitively
satisfying summary of Kepler's three laws of planetary motion.

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SerenaBochenek SerenaBochenek · Answer 2 · 2018-11-29T00:48:44-05:00

The correct answer to the question is : C) Planets orbit in elliptical patterns; a planet's orbit covers equal areas in equal amounts of time; planets' orbits are shorter or longer depending on their distance from the Sun.

EXPLANATION:

Before coming into any conclusion, first we have to understand three laws of Kepler on planetary motion.

First law: Every planets moves around the sun in elliptical orbits with the sun situated at one of their foci.

Second law: Planets sweep out equal areas in equal interval of time.

Third law: The square of time period of rotation of every planet is directly proportional to the cube of semi major axis.

Hence, from above we see that the option three corresponds to the Kepler's laws partially.

Hence, the correct statement is option three.