Johannes Kepler and his laws

Johannes Kepler

Elena Prieto Innes 4ºC

INDEXIntroductionEarly yearsStudiesPersonal lifeCultural and historical legacy

INTRODUCTION

This presentation is about Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630), who was a german

astronomer and mathematician.

EARLY YEARSKepler was born into a family with precarious economic situation, his family’s fortune had declined consideralbly by the time he was born.

His curiosity for astronomy was sparked when he witness The Great Comet of 1577, when he was 6 years old.

STUDIES In University of Tubinga,

he studies philosophy, theology and astronomy.

He became an Copernican and during a student dispute, he defends heliocentrism from both a theoretical and theological perspective.

Logo of the University of Tubinga

PERSONAL LIFE In December 1595, Kepler was introduced to Barbara Müller, a 23-

year-old from a noble family. Barbara’s father opposed to the marriage due to Kepler’s poverty but

relented after the publication of Mysterium.

THE

END

THE LAW OF ELLIPSESBy: Andrea Santos 4ºC

Background Information Brahe mentor collected data

Kepler theoretical construction

Mars elliptical orbit

3 theories explanation of planet’s motion sun-centered solar system

The law itself “The orbits of the planets are ellipses, with the Sun at

one focus of the ellipse.”

THE LAW OF EQUAL AREAS

“The line joining the planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times as the planet travels around the ellipse.”

THE AREAS OF ALL TRIANGLES ARE THE SAME SIZE.

Law of Harmonies

Jorge Perez

The Law

“The period of a planet's orbit squared is proportional to its average distance from the sun cubed”

ReasonKepler was trying to find some kind of relationship or pattern to be able to explain the spacing of the planets in our universe. He found that there was a relationship between the speed of the planet’s orbit and the distance it is from the sun.

Average DistanceThe average distance of a planet to the sun is equal to its semi-major axis. The semi-major axis is half of the major axis which is the longest diameter of the planet’s orbit. This distance is measured in astronomical units (one astronomical unit is the distance from the earth to the sun).

PeriodThe period of a planet is the time it takes to make a complete orbit around the sun. this time is measured in years.

FormulaKnowing the period (P) and the average distance (a) of a planet, we can use the following formula:

P2=a3

This formula only works for our

solar system.