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We have a bonus physics question in my physics 210 class (no credit. It's just a test prep question). It asks about the mass of Jupiter determined by the orbit of Ganymede.
Another bonus question (a bonus question of the bonus question) it says in the notes 'In order to determine the radius of Ganymede's orbit, someone needed to measure the distance between Earth and Jupiter. How can Earth bound observers measure this distance?
I would initially suggest paralax but since both Jupiter and Earth are orbiting together I can't see how that can be useful.
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do you start the problem knowing either of their size?
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>>8476355
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/calcpad/circgrav
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>>8476359
everything's given in the problem to solve it, it's just a curiosity question at the end of the problem.
I guess to reword the question would be 'how did the renaissance scientists discover the distance to Jupiter'
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>>8476374
So if I can follow properly. Once you have G you can determine the mass of the Earth/Sun/Moon by their orbital periods. You can then use the mass of the sun to determine the Rs of all the planets thus giving you their distance from Earth one by one which can then be used to solve the question of Jupiter's mass based on Ganymede's orbit.
You don't actually need Ganymede's orbit then, all you need is the mass of the sun and the orbital period. Ganymede is just sauce I guess.
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>>8476473
How would you find the Sun's mass without knowing its distance?
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>>8476654
This question is starting to drive me nuts.
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