USING AN ISOSCELES TRAPEZOID TO MEASURE THE ECCENTRICITY OF PLANETARY ORBITS

Abstract

This work consisted in developing an approximate way to calculate the eccentricity of the orbits of the planets using an isosceles trapezoid. The data used to verify the validity of the trapezoid method were the aphelion distance, perihelion distance, and eccentricity (already established in the literature) of the following planets: Mercury; Venus; Earth; Mars; Jupiter; Saturn; Uranus, and Neptune. The method developed in this work accurately compares the eccentricities calculated here with the existing ones. In addition, during the application of the technique, it is possible to verify the use of several mathematical concepts from elementary schools, such as plane geometry and trigonometry; that is, it can be used by mathematics (or physics) teachers to explain ellipses or Kepler's 1st law.