10-69 Section 10.6 More on the Conic Sections: Rotation of Axes and Polar Form 987
College Algebra & Trignometry—
D. Applications of Conics in Polar Form
For centuries it has been known that the orbits of the planets
around the Sun are elliptical, with the Sun at one focus. In
addition, comets may approach our Sun in an elliptical,
hyperbolic, or parabolic path with the Sun again at the foci.
This makes planetary studies a very natural application of
the conic sections in polar form. To aid this study, it helps
to know that in an elliptical orbit, the maximum distance of
a planet from the Sun is called its aphelion, and the short-
est distance is the perihelion(Figure 10.55). This means the
length of the major axis is “aphelion perihelion,” enabling
us to find the value of c if the aphelion and peri-
helion are known (Figure 10.56). Using , we can
then find the eccentricity of the planet’s orbit.
EXAMPLE 7
Determining the Eccentricity of a Planet’s Orbit
In its elliptical orbit around the Sun, Mars has an aphelion of 154.9 million miles
and a perihelion of 128.4 million miles. What is the eccentricity of its orbit?
Solution
The length of the major axes would be mi, yielding a
semimajor axis of million miles. Since (Figure
10.56), we have so The eccentricity of the orbit is
or about 0.0935.
Now try Exercises 59 and 60
We can also find the perihelion and aphelion directly in terms of a (semimajor axis)
and e (eccentricity) if these quantities are known. Using , we
obtain: For we have and by direct substitution we
obtain: For Example 8, recall that “AU” designates
an astronomical unit, and represents the mean distance from the Earth to the Sun,
approximately 92.96 million miles.
EXAMPLE 8
Determining the Perihelion of a Planet’s Orbit
The orbit of the planet Jupiter has a semimajor axis of 5.2 AU (
million miles) and an eccentricity of 0.0489. What is the closest distance from
Jupiter to the Sun?
Solution
With perihelion we have At its closest
approach, Jupiter is 4.946 AU from the Sun (about 460 million miles).
Now try Exercises 61 through 64
To find the polar equation of a planetary orbit,
it’s helpful to write the general polar equation in
terms of the semimajor axis a, which is often known
or easily found, rather than in terms of the distance
d from directrix to focus, which is often unknown.
Consider the diagram in Figure 10.57, which shows
an elliptical orbit with the Sun at one focus, vertices
5.211 0.04892 4.946. a11 e2,
1 AU 92.96
perihelion a ea a11 e2.
ea ce
c
a
,perihelion a c.
a c perihelion
e
c
a
13.25
141.65
c 13.25.141.65 c 128.4
a c periheliona 141.65
2a 1154.9 128.42
e
c
a
Sun
AphelionPerihelion
a
c
Perihelion
Figure 10.55
Figure 10.56
D
P
1
P
2
FC
ᏸ
d
a
Figure 10.57
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