Orbit simulations with Maxima software

The computational algebra system Maxima is used together with the fourth order Runge-Kutta method to generate simulations of orbits caused by the newtonian gravitational interaction. Such dynamical illustrations in animated GIF format, which show the trajectory of objects orbiting a much more massive attractor, are very useful to demonstrate intuitively the implications of Kepler laws. The animations are obtained with the help of the Draw package, which can use Maxima input to synthesize very customisable graphs and GIFs. Some programming tools are also necessary to this approach, once a numeric method has to be implemented in order to evaluate the orbit radius in time domain. By applying also other elements, such as variables, functions, and lists, this analysis partially shows the power of Maxima software on solving mathematical and physical problems as well as the importance of combining knowledge of Physics and programming techniques.