ISO-8859-1Bohr's atomic modelThe Moon's Orbit around the Earth
Like the planets of our solar system, the earth's moon also has an elliptical orbit. This means
that the moon rotates around the Earth in an oval shape, as opposed to a circular shape. This is
due to the way the force of gravity changes the velocity of the moon.
Another interesting aspect of our moon's orbit is its rotational pattern. Due to tidal forces (the
difference in gravitational force on opposite sides of the planet), the same side of the moon
always faces the earth. It would appear as though the moon does not rotate at all, when in fact
the rotation period and orbital period and merely the same. We will never see the "far side of the moon"!
Run the module below in order to see how the moon rotate's around the earth. Notice how
the graph on the right changes through the orbit of the moon.
What is the significance of the line pattern in the graph? Try taking snapshots at different
parts of the orbit. What part of the orbit do the peaks and valleys correspond with?
14.015true14.015true14.010101014.01014.01014.01014.01014.01014.01014.0101014.0101true1true1true1true1true11org.concord.mw2d.activity.AtomContainersolarsystem$0.mmlorg.concord.modeler.PageXYGraphorg.concord.mw2d.models.MolecularModel0Time (fs)Potential Energy/Particle300350TimeDistance from the Earth22045-1-10000006.0111