Predict how the position, mass, velocity, and distance between planetary bodies affect their motion and orbits:
Students will explore how the position, mass, velocity, and distance between planets affect their motion. They will learn how these factors influence a planet’s orbit and how gravitational interactions change when these variables are altered.
Key Concepts: Gravitational force, orbital motion, the relationship between mass, distance, and velocity in orbit.
Illustrate how the gravitational force controls the motions of the planets:
Students will understand how gravitational force governs the movement of planets, keeping them in orbit around the Sun and influencing their speed at different points in their orbits.
Key Concepts: Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation, gravitational force, planetary motion.
Explore the different motions that a group of planetary bodies can have:
Students will examine how multiple planetary bodies interact within a gravitational system, considering how gravitational forces affect their motion and stability in a solar system.
Key Concepts: Orbital resonance, gravitational interactions, Kepler’s laws, and the motion of moons and planets.
Describe the behavior of the planet’s velocity at different moments in its orbit:
Students will learn how a planet’s velocity changes as it moves along its orbit, with the planet moving faster when it is closer to the Sun (perihelion) and slower when farther away (aphelion), due to the varying gravitational force.
Key Concepts: Orbital velocity, Kepler’s Second Law, perihelion, aphelion, and the relationship between velocity and distance from the Sun.
