What happens to the line drawn from the sun to a planet according to Kepler's Second Law?

Kepler's Second Law, also known as the Law of Equal Areas, states that a line segment joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal time intervals. This means that as a planet orbits the Sun, the speed of the planet varies depending on its distance from the Sun. When the planet is closer to the Sun, it moves faster, and when it is farther away, it moves slower.

The key aspect of this law is that while the area covered in equal time intervals remains constant, the shape of the areas may vary depending on where the planet is in its elliptical orbit. This principle highlights the nature of gravitational forces acting on the planets, demonstrating that the motion of planets is not uniform but governed by the varying strength of gravity depending on their distance from the Sun.

The other options do not correctly reflect the implications of Kepler's Second Law. The concept of constant length for the line drawn from the Sun to the planet and only changing direction is overly simplistic and fails to encompass the law's requirement of area being equal over time. The idea of different areas based on the planet's mass also misrepresents the law since it is about the area swept by the same planet in its orbit, regardless of its