Home▸Physics & Mechanics▸Physics Simulator Astronomy Dynamics

🧪 Physics Simulator Astronomy Dynamics

Interactive Kepler's second law simulator: watch a planet sweep equal areas in equal times around an elliptical orbit, with eccentricity, orbital period and area-sweep wedges tunable in real time.

Physics & Mechanics2DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted💨 Air & Wind

Kepler's second law states that a line drawn from a planet to the star it orbits sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time — a direct consequence of conservation of angular momentum in a central-force field. This simulator solves Kepler's equation numerically every frame to place a planet at its physically correct position on an elliptical orbit, then shades the wedge swept since the last sample interval so you can watch each wedge's area stay constant even as its shape stretches from long and thin at perihelion to short and fat at aphelion. Adjust eccentricity to control how elongated the ellipse is, the orbital period to control how fast a full revolution takes, and the sweep interval to control how many wedges divide the orbit.

⚙ Under the hood

This simulation allows users to explore the complex dynamics of astronomical systems by manipulating gravitational forces and observing their impact on orbiting bodies. By adjusting parameters like mass, velocity, and distance, you can witness phenomena such as orbital precession and collisions. A new wind-force slider now applies a horizontal force to bouncing balls, adding a fourth variable to the physics.

MechanicsDynamicsCollision

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install