*The
square of a
planet’s period through its orbit is directly
proportional to the cube of the
semi-major axis of the orbit*
Written
mathematically:
P2=R3
Kepler’s third law expresses
the distance from a planet to a
Sun it orbits with only information about
its period. Long
after Kepler’s death, this law was the inspiration
that led Sir Isaac Newton to
the
development of his Law
of Gravitation.
Newton
also worked to revise Kepler’s Laws of Planetary
motion, in order
to relate them to bodies outside of our own solar
system.
"The Earth is round, and is inhabited on all sides, is insignificantly small, and is borne through the stars."
-Johannes Kepler
Contents
Title Page
Kepler’s First Law of Planetary
Motion
Kepler’s Second Law of Planetary
Motion
Kepler’s Third
Law of Planetary
Motion