51.  Two stars in a binary system orbit around their center of mass. The centers of the two stars are 7.17 x 1011 m apart. The larger of the two stars has a mass of 3.70 x 1030 kg, and its center is 2.08 x 1011 m from the system’s center of mass. What is the mass of the smaller star?

 

Solve for m2

 

 

 

Now Assign x1 to be zero and that makes x2 7.17 x 1011 m

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This page last updated on January 11, 2020