Gravity Topic

Demonstrates how the Moon's differential gravitational pull creates two tidal bulges on opposite sides of Earth. Students see that tides arise from gravitational gradients, not uniform attraction. Extend the discussion …

A stretched neoprene sheet models a 2D gravitational potential well. Students observe how mass creates a depression and how smaller objects orbit, spiral in, or escape depending on launch velocity. …

Visual aid for understanding conic sections -- circles, ellipses, parabolas, and hyperbolas -- as planar cuts through a cone. Connects the geometry to orbital trajectories under gravity: orbit shape depends …

Draws precise ellipses on the blackboard using a string-and-pulley mechanism that enforces the constant-distance-sum definition. Illustrates Kepler's First Law and shows how changing the focus separation changes eccentricity.