Today in class we talked about planetary motion. We started off by going over last night's simulation homework. In this simulation, we chose where to put the planet and how fast the planet moved. We found that this simulation proved our hypothesis about planetary movement saying that it would move in a circular pattern around the sun. Also, we talked about what is needed in order to have a planet orbit a star. We need a far enough distance from the sun and to be moving in one direction.
Then, we discussed why planets orbit stars. As a class we came up with a hypothesis that a celestial object pulls a planet in if it is massive. This is why the earth obits the sun and the moon orbits the earth. After we came up with this hypothesis, we put it to the test. We set it up by using a ruler, a magnet, and a paper clip. We would inch the paper clip foward until in snapped onto the magnet. In this ccase, the sun was the magnet and the earth was the paper clip. If the earth got too close to the sun it would be sucked into it, but since we are at the perfect distance, we still get pulled in but not too much.
Now we know why the planets orbit a star. One part that tripped me up in the homework last night was that I kept trying to get a perfect circle for my planet orbit. Then I realized that it wasn't possible. The shape that all of the planets had to move in was an oval shape. When the planet gets closer and closer to the sun, it speeds up because of the unbalanced forces.
KS (4th blog)
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