Topics
- Motion
- Acceleration
- Velocity
- Position
- Gravity
Description
Build your own system of heavenly bodies and watch the gravitational ballet. With this orbit simulator, you can set initial positions, velocities, and masses of 2, 3, or 4 bodies, and then see them orbit each other.
Sample Learning Goals
- Predict the necessary mass, velocity, and distance from the sun of a planet in order for this planet to make a circular orbit around a sun.
- What happens when you increase or decrease the mass of the planet, but keep everything else constant? Does this agree with your prediction?
- What happens to the orbit of the planet when you increase or decrease the magnitude of the velocity of the planet, but keep everything else constant?
- What happens to the planet's orbit when the increase or decrease the initial distance between the planet and the sun?
Version 2.04
