Question

3 measure the period of a circular orbit and compare with the period of more elliptical orbits but with the same semi - major axis.

type	period t (years)	semi - major axis, a (au)
mildly elliptical
highly elliptical

4 compare the results with a partner. whats your conclusion? does eccentricity impact the period of an orbit?

Explanation:

Step1: Recall Kepler's third - law

Kepler's third - law states that $T^{2}\propto a^{3}$, where $T$ is the period of the orbit and $a$ is the semi - major axis.

Step2: Analyze the effect of eccentricity

Since the period $T$ depends only on the semi - major axis $a$ according to Kepler's third law, and for circular, mildly elliptical, and highly elliptical orbits with the same semi - major axis, the periods are equal.

Answer:

The periods of circular, mildly elliptical, and highly elliptical orbits with the same semi - major axis are the same. Eccentricity does not impact the period of an orbit when the semi - major axis is constant. So for the table, if the semi - major axis $a$ is the same for all three types of orbits, the periods $T$ will be equal.