028
Few-body gravity
Three equal masses on one figure of eight, drawn from Newton's law alone.
Field
Detail
Study
028
Chapter
Fields and dynamics
Equation
aᵢ = G Σⱼ≠ᵢ mⱼ (pⱼ − pᵢ) / |pⱼ − pᵢ|³
What moves
time; the three bodies and the pull between them
Structure
Loop
Colour means
time
Posted
Three bright points chase each other around a figure of eight. Cyan lines join each pair, and the brightest line is the strongest pull at that instant. A grey trace follows each body and fades. Every position comes from Newton’s law: each body accelerates towards the others in proportion to their mass and inversely with the square of the distance.