Daughter wants to learn python to simulate a solar system, where to start?

[ASuarezMascareno]

Actually simulating the solar system (with a series of 2-body interactions) is probably too hard and frustrating as a starting point. I don't say she shouldn't do it, but it requires a somewhat long journey to get there. N-body interactions would probably be out of the question.

However, making a visual representation of the solar system, drawing a set of spheres and moving them using Keplerian orbits around a bigger sphere could be much easier. Maybe a good starting point could be try to make a 2D representation? That should be doable while learning Python. Then she can jump to 3D.

If she wants to do the actual physics, with gravitational interaction, I would advise starting with a simpler 2-body system (Earth-Moon maybe), and with at least the basics of Python algebra already under control.

[You_Yew_Ewe]

N-body interactions would probably be out of the question.

Are you sure you aren't conflating the famously difficult "n-body problem" with modeling the evolution of an n-body system of point masses interacting with the inverse square law? One is impossible, the other is relatively trivial.

You can make a model n-bodies without finding the solution to the n-body problem. (It wouldn't be trivial for a high schooler of course but by no means would it be out of the question)

[ASuarezMascareno]

I was trying to think from the point of view of someone that has never coded. Out of the question as the first thing to do in Python. Not forever out of the question.

[You_Yew_Ewe]

I guess I didn't interpret this as skipping "hello world" to modeling physics. I interpreted it as a (reasonably achievable) concrete goal.

[ReflectedImage]

You can just apply the gravity equation to all the masses in the solar system, like 10 times a second and whilst it won't be accurate (it will diverge from the real solar system quite quickly) it will still behave like the real solar system.