Recent content by RossH

Yeah, I figured out how to check for when a collision is happening (actually, the bodies have variable radius, so it's when r1+r2>distance) and I figured out how to find the contact point (I'm using similar triangles). Anyway, I'm not sure I understand what you are suggesting. So, at the...

Hi again! Alright, I've realized that this is actually a lot harder than I thought. So, now I have the line so I can treat the problem as just a single body deflecting off a line. The problem is that all of my information is in x-y coordinates, and I can assume that the line will be slanted...

Wow, I'm stupid. Thanks. So, more generally, if my two bodies are at (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) when they collide, and the point of contact is (x', y') then the equation of the line will be (y-y')/(x-x')=-(x1-x2)/(y1-y2) Is this correct? Thanks for the help! If so, I think I can figure out the...

Thanks! For the purposes of this project I am assuming that both bodies will continue moving with a reduced momentum relative to their original momentum, just because I don't know enough physics to know what will happen and monitoring all of the conservation of energy, momentum, etc would be...

@Admin: question doesn't really lend itself to the template, so I'm not going to use it. Hello. I am writing an N-body simulation program and am currently trying to add deflection/collision functionality and am having trouble figuring out how to do this. So, I have two bodies coming...

Haha, sorry, I didn't realize that this site had code tags. Anyway, I've kind of come to the same conclusion as you. I don't actually do numerical integration; I just use the deltaT variable as a timestep, and then sort of do a Riemann sum (actually, I guess that is numerical integration of a...

Homework Statement I am making a standard N-body simulation for a computer science class and, for some reason, the objects that I am simulating accelerate past each other, and then engage in spring-like motion, getting closer and then farther apart, etc. Obviously incorrect. Homework...

Here's how I think I might be able to solve it (keep in mind that this is based on a decent amount of math but only one year of high-school level physics). I am trying to split up a force vector in a 3-dimensional space into three components, and I definitely have enough information to solve...

That would be problematic because in the libraries that I am using to write this program I have a static coordinate system, and the forces and direction of forces are dynamic, since I'm doing an n-body simulation. Unless you know of a way that I can recalculate the coordinate system? The...

That's a good idea. I'll look into it. Do you know of any site that explains this? I've been googling for a site that explains the math in-depth, but have had no success.

None. I've had a little linear algebra if that's related. I'm a computer science major with a minor in math.

Hi. I'm not really all that knowledgeable about physics, so I'm sorry if the answer to this is obvious. Homework Statement I am writing a program for a computer science class in which I am doing an n-body simulation in 3-dimensional space. Currently, I have figured out the gravitational...

Thanks!

SOLVED: Significant figures in seconds to hours calculation Homework Statement Not exactly a problem, but if I have minutes/seconds and am changing to hours, how many significant figures are there? For example: 29 minutes 57 seconds =0.499166667 hours needs ? significant figures. The...

Yes it did, thank you. Sorry, for some reason I didn't get an email notification of your post so I didn't realize that you had posted back. Thanks! That was quite a detailed presentation.