- #1
Vanessa Avila
- 94
- 1
Homework Statement
Comets travel around the sun in elliptical orbits with large eccentricities. If a comet has speed 2.2×10^4 m/s when at a distance of 2.6×10^11 m from the center of the sun, what is its speed when at a distance of 4.2×10^10 m
Homework Equations
L = rp = r(mv)
The Attempt at a Solution
I thought angular momentum is what I had to use for this one and thought of the two distances as perigee and apogee. I used conservation of momentum to attempt to solve the speed:
rmv = rmv
the m's cancel out
so I am left with r1v1 = r2v2
> 2.6 * 10^11m(2.210^4m/s)=4.2*10^10m(v2)
and I solved for the speed like that and got 136190. But that is wrong.