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A day on a distant planet observed orbiting a nearby star is 21.5 hours. Additionally, a year on the planet lasts 59.1 Earth days. Calculate the average angular speed of the planet about its own axis of rotation in radians per second, with the second as measured on Earth.

Answer :

Final answer:

The average angular speed can be calculated by dividing the total rotation of the planet (2π radians) by the time taken for one rotation (converted to seconds). This gives an average angular speed of approximately 8.11x10-5 radians per second.

Explanation:

The first step in tackling this problem is understanding what angular speed is. Angular speed is the rate at which an object moves through an angle. It is measured in radians per second. In your case, you want to find the angular speed of the planet about its own axis of rotation.

To do this, we need to recall that one complete rotation is 2π radians. Since one day on this distant planet lasts 21.5 hours, we convert this to seconds (1 hour = 60 minutes = 3600 seconds). So, 21.5 hours is 21.5 x 3600 = 77400 seconds.

The angular speed (ω) is therefore calculated by dividing the total rotation (2π radians) by the time (t) taken for one rotation. That is ω = 2π/t. Substituting for t in this formula, we get ω = 2π/77400 = 8.11x10-5 radians per second. Note that this answer is an approximation, and actual planetary motion can be influenced by a number of factors.

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