Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I'm doing a project for school on unknown planets. I don't have much knowledge on circuits but I'm planning on making a few planets orbit around a star. I've been researching about it without much luck. I'm wondering if anyone can help me understand what I would need in order to make an orbital motion.

Hi illuminatingluna,

Are you planning to make a mechanical model of planets orbiting a star? Some basic information about this kind of model is at the following link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orrery

A mathematical orbit simulator is another possibility. A nice simulator is at the following link.

http://lasp.colorado.edu/education/oute ... simulator/

You may want to post some more details about the project you have in mind. With some additional details I’m sure one of the contributors to this forum will be able to help.

I hope this helps. Please post again if you have more questions.

A. Norman