Falling in Circles: What Decides the Shape of an Orbit?
Sim Lesson
Students use the Falling in Circles simulation to launch a planet around a star, then relaunch it with a faster starting speed, observing how the starting speed changes the orbit from a circle to a stretched ellipse to an escape. Lesson Purpose Students often think orbits just happen, or that gravity only pulls things straight down. Changing the starting speed and watching the path form shows that gravity curves the planet's motion into an orbit whose shape depends on that speed.
The Moon has circled Earth for billions of years without ever falling down or flying away. What keeps a planet or moon locked in orbit, and what decides the shape of that orbit? In this lesson, you will use the Falling in Circles simulation to launch a planet around a star and change its starting speed.
Topics and standards: Science, Energy, Solar System, Physics, Physical Science, Astronomy, Mechanical Energy, Simulation, Earth in Space, Orbital Patterns, Forces & Motion, HS-ESS1-4, Grades 9-12, HS-PS2-4, Forces, AP Sciences, SC.912.E.5.6, TEKS Science PHY.5.H, 3.2.9-12.L, 3.3.9-12.D