The planet Mercury has a highly elliptical orbit around the Sun. The gravitational force F acting on Mercury due to the Sun varies with its distance r from the centre of the Sun. The graph of F against r for Mercury in its orbit is shown below.
Mercury is closest to the Sun when r = X and furthest when r = Y.
What does the area under the graph between the distances X and Y represent?
The centripetal force acting on Mercury
The change in the gravitational potential energy of Mercury
The impulse of the force acting on Mercury
The kinetic energy of Mercury
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