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I am working on a school project on the topic of Oberth Effect. I want to collect data using KSP on this topic. The aim of the essay is to display how Oberth Effect reduces the amount of fuel used in certain cases. I want to do the calculation for the data that is collected. I have a week to complete my essay. Can someone help me out?

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Hi @pranavsuri. KSP accurately models Oberth effects (given that the game's planets are disproportionally massive), which means all the real world math applies. I have therefore moved your question to the real science subforum, where it is more likely to be seen by the kind of people who might help. Good luck with your project. :D

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It should be pretty easy to park a rocket in an eliptical orbit with periapsis just above the atmosphere. Then pick a much bigger circular orbit to try and match. You have two good options for a transfer burn. From periapsis or from apoapsis. Both can get you to the target circular orbit with two transfer nodes (one at your original orbit, and the other at target to circularize). And it should be very easy for you to compare the amount of fuel required to complete either of these two maneuvers.

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It's take me a while to type out a full treatment, but here are some hints that helped me understand, maybe it'll unfold something in your head:

The key is the values of potential and kinetic energy of the ship(total), the fuel and the exhaust.

And that the Oberth effect does not involve any extra energy from any source.

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