Planetary Motion Exploration

1. Click on the link below and select the Law of Orbits animation.

http://physics.weber.edu/amiri/director-dcrversion/newversion/kepler/Kepler_1.2.html

2. Play around with the animation. Select different planets/moons and observe their motions. The
plus signs follow the bodies path and are representing a motion diagram.

a. How would you describe the shape of the orbit of the Earth around the Sun?

b. By looking at the plus signs representing the orbital path, how would you describe the
speed of the Earth around the Sun? Does the speed stay the same throughout the orbit,
or does it change? When/where does it change?

c. Now look at Nereid orbiting around Neptune and answer the same questions from
above:

i. Shape of orbit

ii. How does the speed change?

3. Kepler’s first law of planetary motion states the shape of the paths of planets around the sun, or
moons around their planets. Based on your observations, what do you think Kepler’s first law is?

4. Kepler’s second law describes the speed of planets as they orbit the sun. What do you think
Kepler’s second law is?