Kepler's Second Law

Launching Fluffy, the Wonder Hamster, in a catapult might not be humane, but imagining the action to analyze projectile motion should be acceptable. This physics resource injects a little silliness, yet is quite serious about assessing...

Stop wasting energy searching for physics resources, this comprehensive collection of worksheets has you covered. Starting with introductions to the scientific method, dimensional analysis, and graphing data, these skills practice...

Kepler's second law of planetary motion, specifically, the law of equal areas, is demonstrated by your high schoolers. On the provided graph paper, they mark out the designated path of Earth at two different times of the year and then...

Introduce your physics or astronomy class to Kepler's laws of planetary motion with this straightforward activity. It covers the basic concepts of each and has learners answer questions to demonstrate their grasp on them. You could use...

Using an online planetary simulator, astrophysics students explore each of Kepler's laws. The 13-page printable handout walks them through the activity, which also includes using string, pushpins, and a pencil to model three different...

High school astrophysicists perform the classic activity of using a loop of string and two push pins to draw ellipses and calculate eccentricity. They also answer questions and solve problems using Kepler's laws of planetary motion. The...

Kepler decided to think outside the box and discovered that planets orbit in elliptical patterns. An engaging activity demonstrates the elliptical orbit pattern in relationship to the area of a planet to explain Kepler's Second Law....

Common sense says that the farther a planet is from the sun, the longer the orbit. Kepler turned common sense into his third law by quantifying this relationship. Classes explore Kepler's Third Law through an interactive tutorial. They...

A flipped classroom lesson introduces astrophysics fanatics to Kepler's three laws of planetary motion. After reading about the laws of ellipses, equal areas, and harmonies, and also learning how Newton's gravitation concepts come into...

Students explore orbital velocities and how they vary along each orbit, according to Kepler's Second Law.