Studying Kepler’s laws using GeoGebra simulations

Abstract

Abstract Computer simulations are essential research tools in today’s scientific world. They are also important for science teaching. Even though there are many simulators developed for didactic purposes, we narrow our attention to GeoGebra, a free software that can be easily adapted to perform physics simulations. Accordingly, we present a self-contained set of GeoGebra simulations of Kepler’s laws. Although the simulations are quite intuitive, each one is presented and its potential is discussed in detail. The set has been applied on several occasions in high school classes and the results indicate that it can be a powerful tool for teaching Kepler’s laws.