Kepler's Law (Noun)
Meaning
(astronomy) one of three empirical laws of planetary motion stated by Johannes Kepler.
Classification
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents.
Examples
- Kepler's Law of equal areas states that the line connecting the planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times.
- Kepler's laws of planetary motion, particularly the second law, describe the path of the planet around the Sun.
- Johannes Kepler discovered the three laws of planetary motion, which were later used by Isaac Newton to develop his law of universal gravitation, with Kepler's second law describing the speed of the planet as it orbits the Sun.
- According to Kepler's first law, the orbit of the planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci.
- Kepler's third law relates the distance of the planet from the Sun to its orbital period, and has been used to calculate the mass of the Sun and other celestial bodies.