What two pieces of information do we need to know about Earth in order to calculate the mass of the Sun?
A) The semimajor axis of Earth's orbit and the mass of Earth.
B) The semimajor axis of Earth's orbit and Earth's orbital period.
C) The radius of Earth and Earth's orbital period.
D) The radius of Earth and the mass of Earth.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To calculate the mass of the Sun using Kepler's Third Law, we need to know the square of Earth's orbital period and the cube of Earth's average distance from the Sun (given by the semimajor axis of Earth's orbit). Thus, we need to know the semimajor axis of Earth's orbit and Earth's orbital period. The mass of Earth is not directly required for this calculation.

What Two Pieces of Information Do We Need to Know