Calc III Lab #5: Periodic Orbits
Since all the planets in our solar system have not fallen into the
sun, we can conclude that the planets did not initially start from
rest. Let's see what happens to a particle that starts with some
initial velocity.
In the Selected Point Panel, change the
position of the particle to
(x,y)=(0,4) but now let the initial velocity be (vx,
vy)=(0.1,0). Press Forwards to generate a trajectory starting
from that initial condition.
Question #2:
- Describe the shape of the resulting trajectory.
- Try changing the
values of (x,y) and also changing the velocity vector (but
keep the norm of the velocity vector small, say |vx|+|vy|<
0.2.) Compute trajectories starting from these initial conditions.
- Do these trajectories agree with your expectations?
Go To
Frederick J. Wicklin <fjw@geom.umn.edu>
Last modified: Mon Aug 15 07:48:49 2005
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