Question

Using our understanding of orbits, which orbits (near or far) are moving more slowly?


near


far

Answer 1

The closer the planet is to the sun's gravitational pull, the planet will move faster because it takes less time to orbit the sun. The planets that are farther away have less gravitational pull, which means they will move slower and take more time to orbit the sun.

Answer 2

Using our understanding of orbits, objects in lower, near-in orbits move slower than objects in higher, far-out orbits.

Here's a set of examples:

International Space Station ...

Orbital height -- 254 miles

Speed in Orbit -- 76 mi/sec

Geostationary TV satellite ...

Orbital height -- 22,200 miles

Speed in orbit -- about 1.9 mi/sec

Moon ...

Orbital height -- 238,000 miles

Speed in orbit -- about 0.6 mi/sec