Question

Our solar system is 25,000 light years from the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

If our solar system orbits the galactic center in a circular orbit with speed 230 km/s, what's its orbital period?

I have absolutely no idea as what to do, if someone could help me that would be fantastic!

Answer 1

The period equals the distance traveled, divided by the velocity.
Change the distance to the center of the galaxy from light years to kilometers. That will be the radius of your circular orbit.
\[Period = \frac{2\pi r}{Velocity}\]

Your answer will be in seconds, because the velocity is in km/s So you will want to change it into years to get a reasonable answer.

Answer 2

Helpful tips: Change the radius to km by multiplying it by:
9.46 x 10^12 km / ly
Change your answer in seconds to years by dividing it by:
31,536,000 sec / year

Answer 3

Thank you such much, that helped a lot!

Answer 4

Great! Glad to help.