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The Review! In the world of shareware, this is kind of a wierd one. Due to the nature of the shareware beast, most programs get revised periodically, with little changes here and there... but Gravitation has been around in its current incarnation since about 1994 - but I'm not complaining - it's still a great program!
Basically, Gravitation is an orbital simulator - this great old program allows you to design solar systems with planets, asterioids, moons, satellites, whatever you want! You can design them either by point and clicking, or by using a "solar system editor" to give planets very specific x and y coordinates and velocities, and masses. Gravitation then turns itself into a cool animator, allowing you to zoom in and out on your creation, and even trace the orbits so you can see the patterns in detail. Even replay your work as many times as you want! I also really appreciate the inclusion of sample solar systems. My only suggestion is that the program should be able to run in a window, without taking up the whole screen. The interface could use some updating too, as is visible in the above picture. On the whole though, if you can find Mr. Rommereide, definitely send him the $28.95 - your students will love you for it!
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