Why do planets orbit the sun in ellipses when moons orbit their planet in circles? Pupils control the semi-major axis, eccentricity of the orbit, and position angle. The resulting orbital appears with the related force vectors as selected in order to show the angular momentum conservation.

Concepts

orbitals, angular momentum, torque, orbiting, kepler's laws

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Relate this to the speed of cars on a Nascar track  there is a minimum and a maximum limit as they go around the curve

Classroom Considerations

• Requires a free CK-12 account to access the interactive
• Assumes prior knowledge of angles and vectors

Pros

• Worksheet includes analysis questions and simulator contains more difficult challenge questions
• Offers a video walkthrough of how the simulator works

Cons

• None

Common Core

RST.6-8.4 RST.9-10.4 RST.11-12.4