"particle" sliding along a curve
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg70516] "particle" sliding along a curve
- From: Mattiephly at hotmail.com
- Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2006 04:17:47 -0400 (EDT)
Hi there. I'd like to create a Mathematica plot that displays a "particle" -- which will just be a small, black circle -- "sliding" along a curve. That is, when I execute the Plot command, I'd like to watch as the particle moves along the curve from one point to another. I've looked at the help documents for the built in Animation abilities, but I'm not sure how to make use of them. Do I really have to create a single plot for several positions of the particle, and then animate those consecutively? For example, I'd like my particle to slide along the parabola y = x^2, and I'd like the particle to "slide" from x = -5 to 5 (though maybe show the curve from x = -10 to 10). And I'd like to be able to control the "speed" of the particle, too. I appreciate any thoughts on this. Thanks a lot, R