This is, without a doubt, the coolest thing I have seen on the internet. I got there somehow through a link from Nurse Myra. Not sure how.
Anyway, it’s a little Flash toy that allows you to vector bodies into an attractive force and try to sustain orbits. I have about thirty of the little guys running right now. Most of the orbits are very eccentric, but I nailed one or two. What you have to do is click on the screen drag the line that appears to create a vector. The longer the line, the greater the velocity. If you get the vector right, you’re rewarded with an orbit around the central attractive body. I honestly didn’t read the page, but I’m guessing it has something to do with electrons. I don’t give a shit, though. Satellites and planets would be a better comparison.
Anyway, here it is.
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/waves_particles/wavpart2.html
Now very weirdly, I was at that exact same site yesterday looking at their explanation of the Double Slit Experiment (which demonstrates the wave/particle duality of light). You get to control a laser canon, if you’re interested.
The experiment with the orbiting bodies is, as you suggest, a better analog for planetary motion than atomic particles. You did better than me - I got about ten of the little suckers running.
Comment by anaglyph — July 16, 2008 @ 4:28 pm
200! Ok, I’m lying. I stopped around 10.
Comment by Dexter Colt — July 16, 2008 @ 6:10 pm