Flying to the Moon
![]() The differential equation for the motion of the swans is easily set up in vector form as , where is the speed of the swans and is the position of the Moon. This equation states that the swans' velocity vector has constant length and is always directed toward the Moon. Note that the gravitational attraction of the Moon and Earth are ignored. If the swans' speed is not greater than that of the Moon then the swans approach a circular path, shown as a dashed red curve (see second and third snapshots). This example is discussed in more detail in the paper by Andrew Simoson.![]() "Flying to the Moon" from The Wolfram Demonstrations Project http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/FlyingToTheMoon/ Contributed by: Stan Wagon, Macalester College | ||||||||||||||
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