I have an astronomy question... Spinning up the solar nebula. The orbital speed of the material in the solar nebula at Pluto's average distance from the sun was about 5km/s. What was the orbital speed of this material when it was 40,000 AU from the sun (before it fell inward with the collapse of the nebula)? Use the law of conservation of angular momentum. I have the angular momentum = m x v x r. Is this correct?

Question

I have an astronomy question...  Spinning up the solar nebula.  The orbital speed of the material in the solar nebula at Pluto's average distance from the sun was about 5km/s.  What was the orbital speed of this material when it was 40,000 AU from the sun (before it fell inward with the collapse of the nebula)?  Use the law of conservation of angular momentum.  I have the angular momentum = m x v x r.  Is this correct?

egenriether · Answer

Yes, now equate the angular momentum now and the one in the past.  The mass is the same and you have the old radius.  use that to solve for v.

anonymous · Answer

i agree