Question

According to Kepler's second law, line joining the planet to the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal time intervals. This suggests that for the planet

• A. radial acceleration is zero
• B. tangential acceleration is zero
• C. transverse acceleration is zero
• D. All

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

transverse acceleration is zero

By Kepler's second law,

$\frac{dA}{dt}=\frac{L}{2m}$ ,$L$ is constant,$mvr$= constant (in its orbit)

But since r changes ,v also changes and have tangential acceleration also changes.

So,transverse acceleration will be zero as the motion is planar.