What are some algorithms that will allow me to simulate planetary physics?

Question

I\'m interested in doing a \"Solar System\" simulator that will allow me to simulate the rotational and gravitational forces of planets and stars.

I\'d like to be able t

Answer 1

You need to know and understand Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation and Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion. These two are simple and I'm sure you've heard about them, if not studied them in high school. Finally, if you want your simulator to be as accurate as possible, you should familiarize yourself with the n-Body problem.

You should start out simple. Try making a Sun object and an Earth object that revolves around it. That should give you a very solid start and it's fairly easy to expand from there. A planet object would look something like:

Class Planet {
  float x;
  float y;
  float z; // If you want to work in 3D
  double velocity;
  int mass;
}

Just remember that F = MA and the rest just just boring math :P