Newton's Orbital Cannon

This movie illustrates trajectories of shots fired from Newton's cannon with four different initial velocities:

with a small initial velocity the ball quickly falls to the Earth

at a larger initial velocity, the ball travels completely around the Earth in a circular path

with an even larger velocity, the ball moves around the Earth in an elliptical path, reaching a higher (but not constant) altitude above the surface

at a critical initial velocity, the ball is able to escape from the gravitational field of the Earth. Usage: Click one of the buttons at the bottom of the animation to fire a cannonball with the indicated initial velocity. The "Home" button returns to the beginning from any point.