law of areas
- noun
- Specialized
:
ley de áreas
- The law of areas illustrates that a line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out equal areas during equal time intervals.
Examples
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The law of areas explains why planets move faster when closer to the sun.
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According to the law of areas, a planet's speed varies with its distance from the sun.
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According to the law of areas, planets travel more quickly when they are closer to the sun.
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Kepler's law of areas explains why the speed of a planet changes as it orbits.
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Physics students studied the law of areas to understand planetary motion.
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According to the law of areas, planets travel more quickly when they are closer to the sun.
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Kepler's law of areas explains why the speed of a planet changes as it orbits.
Synonyms
A planet's line to the sun covers equal areas in equal times
A rule that a line from a planet to the sun covers equal areas in equal times
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from 'law' + 'of' + 'areas', so a learner who knows the words can infer it denotes a scientific rule concerning areas. However, the precise content — Kepler's statement about a line sweeping equal areas and its implications for planetary speed — is technical and not predictable from the constituents alone, so full understanding requires subject knowledge.
Etymology
The law of areas comes from the picture of a line from the sun to a planet sweeping out equal areas like equal pie slices in equal times; when the planet is closer the slice is long so the planet must move faster, and when it is farther the slice is short so it moves slower. That's why the law means planets 'move faster when closer to the sun and slower when farther away'.
