Gravity Well
Why do our solar system’s planets all travel in the same direction around the sun? Why do comets curve into our solar system? How did Apollo 13 slingshot around the moon? Explore the answers to these questions in a hands-on exploration of gravity and mass with the gravity well.
You will need:
Our free loan box, which includes a gravity well, marbles and heavy mass weights.
Or
Craft your own gravity well from stretchy fabric clipped to the back of a circle of school chairs. Add a few marbles and a weight from your maths department, and you’re set!
Objectives (UK National Curriculum 2014)
KS4 Science Forces
– forces and fields: electrostatic, magnetic, gravity
– acceleration caused by Forces, Newton’s First Law
KS3 Science Space Physics
– gravity force, gravity forces between Earth and moon, and between Earth and Sun
KS2 Science
– describe the movement of Earth and other planets relative to the sun
Online presentation link
