The following exercises use this Java applet.
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Set the mass of one star to be 3 times greater than the other, keeping all the other parameters the same. How does the orbital period change compared to the case of equal masses? Why? What is the ratio of the distances from the center of mass for this case? Which star is closer to the center of masss and why? | |
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Keeping the 3:1 mass ratio, change the eccentricity to make the ellipses much more elongated (e.g., 0.8 to 0.9). Did the orbital period change? Why or why not? Did their distances from the center of mass change? Why or why not? | |