PhET Lab- Orbital Motion

Go to the PhET lab simulation on the solar system and complete the following exercises. PhET Simulation on Gravity and Orbits Exercise 1: In the model section, begin with just the Sun and Earth, turn on the gravity force vector, velocity vector, and path. Run the simulation with the initial parameters. Let Earth complete one rotation of the sun, then increase the mass of the Sun to 1.5 (without stopping the simulation) and complete another rotation. Increase the mass of the Sun again to 2. Explain what happened at each step and why. Take careful note of the vectors and the days. Exercise 2: Now run the simulation with the Sun, Earth, and Moon. If you change the mass of the planet to 0.5, what happens to the moon? What about if you increase the planet's mass to 1.5? Explain why. Exercise 3: Run the simulation with Earth and the Satellite. If you move the Satellite closer to Earth, what happens and why? If you move the Satellite farther from Earth, what happens and why? If you increase the mass of the satellite, what happens and why? Decrease both the mass of the planet and the mass of the Satellite to 0.5. What happens and why?

https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/gravity-and-orbits/latest/gravity-and-orbits_en.html