– Using this menu you can choose the integration method (an integration method is a numerical procedure for solving the equations of motion).
– In all these examples the only force applied is the gravitational one.
– Euler is the less accurate, the result is physically not correct. See how a bouncing particle increases its energy over time (due to the small errors in calculating the aproximated position step by step).
– Verlet is more accurate than Euler and energy does not increases. In this example there is no damping force applied, the loss of energy is due to a ‘numerical dissipation’.
– Midpoint (default) will be the best choice in most cases.
– In the next example the “loss of energy” (for numerical dissipation) is minimal when choosing Midpoint. Remember: there are not other forces but gravity! In absence of air friction (or other types of forces) the particle should reach its initial position every time!
– RK4 is the slowest but also the most accurate one, you can try it where Midpoint is found not to be accurate enough.
