Grade 9 Orbital Motion Worksheet
This worksheet covers key concepts of orbital motion including gravitational force, orbital velocity, and Kepler's Laws, suitable for Grade 9 science students.
Includes
Standards
Topics
Orbital Motion: Exploring the Cosmos
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Read each question carefully and answer to the best of your ability. Show all work for calculations. Good luck!
1. Which force is primarily responsible for keeping planets in orbit around the sun?
Electromagnetic force
Strong nuclear force
Gravitational force
Weak nuclear force
2. According to Kepler's First Law, the orbit of a planet around the sun is a(n) .
Perfect circle
Ellipse
Parabola
Hyperbola
3. What happens to the orbital speed of a planet as it gets closer to the sun?
It increases
It decreases
It remains constant
It depends on the planet's mass
1. The force of gravity between two objects is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the between their centers.
2. Kepler's Second Law states that a line segment joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of .
3. An object in orbit is constantly falling towards the central body, but its high velocity causes it to miss the surface.
1. All planets in our solar system orbit the Sun in perfect circles.
True
False
2. The gravitational force between two objects increases if the distance between them increases.
True
False
1. Explain the difference between geosynchronous orbit and geostationary orbit.
2. Describe Kepler's Third Law of Planetary Motion in your own words.
Match each term on the left with its definition on the right.
1. Aphelion
a. The point in an orbit where a planet is closest to the Sun.
2. Perihelion
b. The path an object takes around another object.
3. Orbit
c. The point in an orbit where a planet is farthest from the Sun.
Observe the image below showing an example of orbital motion.
1. Based on the image, what object is likely orbiting the larger central body?
2. What keeps the orbiting object from flying off into space?
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