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These resources have been reviewed and selected by STEM Learning’s team of education specialists for factual accuracy and relevance to teaching STEM subjects in UK schools.

Marble-ous ellipses: speed and time of orbiting bodies

This activity puts speed-time graphs in a space context by looking at the elliptical orbits. 

In order to understand the orbits of planets, comets and other celestial bodies, it is necessary to examine the principles of how gravity, and the velocity of an object, interact to produce an orbit. It is a common misconception among students that planetary orbits are circular. The activity shows how the speed of objects in elliptical orbits change as they orbit the Sun. An extension activity, looking at the geometry of ellipses and their relation to physical parameters in the Solar System, is included.

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