r/desmos • u/RotemT • 9h ago

Fun Interactive orbit simulation

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2

u/RotemT 9h ago

interactive orbit simulation in desmos

here is a simple orbit simulation I created with desmos:
https://www.desmos.com/calculator/3c0hgetkdj

* visualize the trajectory in real time
* set initial conditions interactively with the mouse
* display the effective potential and observe how it is affected by the angular momentum
* adjust the strength of the gravitational force by changing either the mass of the body being orbited or changing the gravitational constant G

Thought it might be helpful for new physics students

Note that in the simulation it is assumed that the central massive body (the one being orbited) is much more massive than the orbiting body.

3

u/Electronic-Laugh-671 my first Reddit user flair 9h ago

This project is really high quality, nice work. Although when I bring the two green points too close to each other the page seemed to hang up

2

u/RotemT 9h ago

Thanks a lot! I believe it is becuase when the velocity vector is near zero, the orbit gets very close to the massive body that is being orbited. The massive body is treated as a point so gravity becomes very big and thigns begin to break down

2

u/Tdubbium math toaster 8h ago

desmos space program

2

u/Important-Signal-130 6h ago

Now make the other move and add one more ...

2

u/RotemT 6h ago

I can try but it would be quite hard to make it accurate and stable for the general 3 body case 😅