Orbital Mechanics and Gravity Lab

Students measure gravity, fire Newton's cannon into orbit, test Kepler's third law and find a geostationary altitude.

Grades 9–10Virtual lab · 5 stations1 student per deviceNo student loginsWorks offline

Try it free: the demo opens the Start page and Station 1 right in your browser. No sign-up needed.

Virtual labs are sold separately and aren’t part of the All-Access licenses.

Grade level

Grades 9–10: Quantitative gravity and orbits with real planet data and numerical orbit simulation

Newton's law of universal gravitation, surface gravity on other worlds, orbital and escape speed, Kepler's third law, satellite orbits

NGSS: HS-ESS1-4 · HS-PS2-1 · HS-PS2-4

Open the game file in any web browser: Chromebooks, laptops or your smartboard. No accounts, no student logins and no internet needed once it's downloaded.
Each student types their name on the Start page, then works through the stations in order. Each station has a prediction, a hands-on activity, a data table or log that fills in as they work and a check question.
Students finish with a printable lab report (print or save as PDF). The Teacher Notes include the standards, a full answer key and a reset button for shared devices.
Each purchase includes the lab file and a one-page Quick Start guide.