Newton's Cannon

Download the new version made with Unity: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alec.newtonscannon2


Open source: https://github.com/alecKarfonta/Newtons-Cannon

Here is a simple interactive demonstration of Newton's Cannon.

Newton imagined a giant cannon capable of firing cannonballs at any velocity. If the cannonball is fired at a normal speed it will travel on an arc and fall to the Earth. Increasing the cannonball's speed will increase the distance traveled and widen the arc. With enough speed the cannonball's downward motion, caused by the pull of gravity, will be matched by the curvature of the Earth.

The cannonball is continuously falling around the Earth, because it has attained such a great horizontal speed it never gets any closer to the Earth. The International Space Station, and most communications satellites, reside in a range of distances known as Low Earth Orbit, 200-2000 kilometers from the surface. At 200 kilometers up, to exactly counteract gravity's downward pull, a satellite must travel at an astounding 7000 meters per second, or 15,700 miles per hour.


Please excuse and report any bugs. I threw this together in less than a day, and posted it for free with no advertisements. Just for people to enjoy, or not. Email me with any suggestions, or if you wanna collaborate. If anyone is interested in making some decent art for this please email me.