Fix Circular Motion: derive velocity from centripetal force instead of forcing constant speed#360
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Thank you for this physical fix! |
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Closes part of #40
Problem: In CircularMotion.jsx, the centripetal force was correctly calculated (F = ma) and applied via applyForce(), but the velocity was then immediately overridden every frame with setMag(speed). This meant the force calculation had no real effect on the motion — it was purely decorative for the visual arrow, and the circular path came from the artificial override, not actual physics.
Fix: Replaced the hard override with a gentle correction (5% per frame) that lets the applied centripetal force genuinely drive the velocity's rotation, while still correcting for small numerical drift so the orbit doesn't spiral over many frames.
Testing: Ran the simulation for 15-20+ seconds — orbit stays stable with no visible spiral-in or spiral-out. Confirmed the path remains a clean circle.