SOLUTION: The Earth traces an elliptical path (with eccentricity e=0.017) around the sun. If the sun is at one of the foci and the length of half the major axis is 93 million miles, estimate

Algebra ->  Quadratic-relations-and-conic-sections -> SOLUTION: The Earth traces an elliptical path (with eccentricity e=0.017) around the sun. If the sun is at one of the foci and the length of half the major axis is 93 million miles, estimate      Log On


   

Question 80405: The Earth traces an elliptical path (with eccentricity e=0.017) around the sun. If the sun is at one of the foci and the length of half the major axis is 93 million miles, estimate the shortest distance between the earth and the sun.
Answer by stanbon(75887) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
The Earth traces an elliptical path (with eccentricity e=0.017) around the sun. If the sun is at one of the foci and the length of half the major axis is 93 million miles, estimate the shortest distance between the earth and the sun.
---------
That is call apogee.
Half the major axis is "a".
The distance of the focus from the center is "c" and c=ae.
So apogee = a-ae or a(1-e)
Your Problem:
apogee or perihelion is 93x10^6(1-0.017)=91.419x10^6 miles
=========
PS: You can look this up with a Google search of "sun earth apogee"
Cheers,
Stan H.