Kepler's Third Law states:
*The square of the orbital period of a planet is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit.*
Mathematically:
T² ∝ a³
Where:
* T is the orbital period (in years)
* a is the semi-major axis (average distance from the Sun in astronomical units (AU))
This means that if you know the average distance of a planet from the Sun, you can calculate its orbital period, and vice versa.
Example:
* Earth's average distance from the Sun is 1 AU.
* Earth's orbital period is 1 year.
If we plug these values into Kepler's Third Law, we get:
1² ∝ 1³
This shows that the relationship holds true for Earth.
Note: Kepler's Third Law applies to all planets in our solar system, as well as other planetary systems. It is a fundamental law of celestial mechanics.
