According to Kepler's laws of planetary motion and the conservation of energy, a planet in an elliptical orbit moves faster when it is closer to the sun and slower when it is farther away. Kinetic energy is directly proportional to the square of the speed ($KE = \frac{1}{2}mv^2$).
[Figure shown in original text] The planet Mercury is revolving in an elliptical orbit around the sun as shown in the given figure. The kinetic energy of mercury is greatest at the point labelled
Asked in UPPCS Prelims 1997 · Topic: Space (Orbital Mechanics and Kepler's Laws)
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