For this exercise we will be looking at the Milky Way's Rotation Curve. Using the interactive rotation curve above determine the velocity values for each of the R values given in the Rotation Curve Chart above. For each row in the Rotation Curve Chart record the vale for velocity and then calculate the total mass for R = 2kpc and R = 4kpc using the relationships beneath the rotation curve. Note that an example calculation for the R = 0.3 kpc row has been provided for you. Copy the values from the Rotation Curve Chart into the table below:
R (kpc) Velocity (km/s) Total Mass (billions of Msun)
0.3 259.6 4.5
2.0
4.0
After recording the values for these two rows click "Total Mass" in the Rotation Curve Chart and it will calculate the remaining Total Mass values for you.