What did you change in the model?
Labs / Astronomy
Lagrange Points
Step inside the rotating frame of two orbiting bodies, where gravity and the outward centrifugal pull combine into one landscape of hills and valleys. Five special balance points appear — the Lagrange points. Drag anywhere on the map to fling a test mass, and watch whether it settles into a gentle loop or slides away for good.
Labs / Astronomy / Lagrange Points
Lagrange Points
Step inside the rotating frame of two orbiting bodies, where gravity and the outward centrifugal pull combine into one landscape of hills and valleys. Five special balance points appear — the Lagrange points. Drag anywhere on the map to fling a test mass, and watch whether it settles into a gentle loop or slides away for good.
Why it matters
Why explore this?
Astronomy uses patterns in light and motion to explain objects we cannot touch directly. This model lets you change one part of a space system and see what the evidence would look like.
Explore
Try the model
L4 (0.48, 0.87)state stable|g|@cursor —drops 5
Investigate
Questions to test
Predict first, try it in the model, then use what you observe to answer.
What to try
- Drop a test mass right on L4 or L5. Why does it circle the point instead of falling straight in?
- Slide the mass ratio μ up past about 0.04. What happens to the stability readout at L4 & L5, and why do the trails change?
- Place a mass on L1, L2, or L3. Can you ever make one of those points hold onto it?
- Move your cursor across the map — where does the |g|@cursor force drop to nearly zero, and how does that line up with the five points?
- Change the rotation ω away from 1. Which Lagrange points shift the most, and what does that tell you about the balance they depend on?
Explain
Make sense of what happened
Look for a cause-and-effect rule: what did you change, what responded, and what stayed the same? Astronomers use those patterns to infer how distant systems work.
Check
Before you leave
What visible evidence changed?
What rule could explain that change?
If you can answer all three using evidence from the model, you understand the main idea. If not, return to Explore and change one setting at a time.