Sun-Planet Potential JS Model Documents

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Main Document

Sun-Planet Potential JS Model 

written by Wolfgang Christian

The Sun-Planet Potential JavaScript Model plots the gravitational potential U(r) from the surface of Sun to two astronomical units (AUs). The planet is located at 1 AU and the potential plot passes through the center of the planet assuming a constant mass density. Because Earth has a mass approximately 3 million times smaller than the mass of Sun, the program allows the user to zoom in to observe the potential near the planet. The user can also vary the planet's mass and observe the effect of planet mass on potential.

The Sun-Planet Potential JavaScript Model was developed using the Easy Java/JavaScript Simulations (EjsS) modeling tool. You can modify this simulation if you have Easy Java/JavaScript Simulations (EjsS) version 5.2 or above installed by downloading and importing the zip file into EjsS.

Published February 12, 2016
Last Modified February 9, 2016

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Source Code Documents

Sun-Planet Potential JavaScript Source Code 

This source code zip archive contains an XML representation of the Sun-Planet Potential JavaScript Model.   Unzip this archive in your Easy Java/JavaScript Simulations workspace to compile and run this model using EJS 5.  Although EJS is a Java program, EjsS 5 creates a stand alone JavaScript program from this source code if the programming language is set to JavaScript.

Last Modified February 9, 2016