Materials
- Online Orbit Simulator
In this lab we are going to explore Kepler’s three laws through modeling the orbital motion (Well loosely based on Kepler’s laws, the simulation itself looks more like a circular orbit). First, we want to model the Earth/Sun system. Start the simulation and have the the Earth and the Sun trace out their respective orbits. Answer the following questions:
- What direction is the velocity vector pointed in as the Earth orbits the Sun? What direction is the acceleration oriented toward?
- If you double the mass of the Earth what happens? Why might this occur?
- What if you double the mass of the Sun? Why might this take place?
- What is one interesting effect that you were able to produce by changing the variables of the system? Why do you think this occurred?
Repeat this activity for the Earth/Moon system.
Once you have completed the simulation answer the additional questions contained in the next section. When you submit your report, it should be in paragraph form. Answer the questions below in the introduction. Discuss the results from the experiment in the Results/Conclusions section.
Questions:
- Describe Kepler’s first law and its impact on the field of astronomy.
- Discuss Kepler’s Second law. Describe the law and its importance.
- Discuss Kepler’s Third Law. Define the law and describe why it is important to astrophysics.
- You are an astronomer studying a distant exoplanet, Kepler 1625b around the yellow star kepler 1625. You determine that the average radius (the distance from the star) is 4 AU. What is the period of this exoplanet?
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