The N-Body problem is the problem of predicting the motions of a group of N objects which each have a gravitational force on each other. For any particle i
in the system, the summation of the gravitational forces from all the other particles results in the acceleration of particle i
. From this acceleration, we can calculate a particle’s velocity and position (x y z vx vy vz
) will be in the next timestep. Newtonian physics describes the behavior of very large bodies/particles within our universe. With certain assumptions, the laws can be applied to bodies/particles ranging from astronomical size to a golf ball (and even smaller).