Study rotational dynamics with this simulation. Great Circles model displays the frictionless motion of a particle that is constrained to follow the surface of a perfect sphere. The sphere rotates underneath the particle, but since there is no friction, and the sphere is perfectly spherical, the motion of the particle is not influenced by the sphere.

The simulation shows simultaneously the trajectory with respect to the inertial coordinate system, and the trajectory as seen from a point of view that is co-rotating with the sphere. The particle remains co-rotating until the Release/Launch button is pressed. On pressing the Release/Launch button the particle commences to move along the great circle that is tangent to the initial latitude. You can modify this simulation if you have Ejs installed by right-clicking within the plot and selecting "Open Ejs Model" from the pop-up menu item.

Requirements:
* Java

The license of this software is Freeware, you can free download and free use this graphing software.