Gravity and orbits
PhysicsGravitation & AstronomyAges 16–17
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Sign in to playLet the Sun, Earth, Moon or a satellite attract each other with real gravity (SI masses and distances, velocity-Verlet numerical integration) and watch orbits form from the force and velocity vectors; while paused, drag a body or the tip of its velocity arrow to change the initial conditions, or switch gravity off to see bodies move in straight lines. Switch between an enlarged-size view and a true-to-scale view, and change the mass of the central body or the orbiting body to see the orbit and period change according to Kepler's laws. Adapted from the "Gravity and Orbits" simulation by PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado Boulder (CC BY 4.0); rewritten.
Lesson: Gravitational fields
How to use
Parameters you can change
- Bodies Sun – Earth, Sun – Earth – Moon, Earth – Moon, Earth – Satellite
- View Model (enlarged sizes), To scale
- Central body mass (×) 0.1–10
- Orbiting body mass (×) 0.1–10
- Gravity on
- Gravity force vector
- Velocity vector
- Orbit path
- Reference distance circles
- Measuring tape
