Click anywhere on the applet to place your planet. Then drag to
give it an initial velocity.
Here are several orbits you can try.
| Planet |
Distance From Sun
|
Average Speed
|
Length of Year
|
| Mercury |
58 x 106 km
|
48 km/sec
|
88 days
|
| Venus |
108 x 106 km
|
35 km/sec
|
226 days
|
| Earth |
150 x 106 km
|
30 km/sec
|
365 days
|
| Mars |
228 x 106 km
|
24 km/sec
|
694 days
|
Clicking on "Show Kepler's Law" will mark off the orbit in equal time segments for the next orbit created. Each segment created has the same area. Click here to see some example orbits.
Can you create orbits of other shapes? Elliptical? Hyperbolic?