Due to gravity earth revolves round the sun.Then why doesn't it fall on to the sun?

Answer 1

The simple answer can be given by the support of Newton's third law of motion.. "To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" when Sun pulls Earth towards itself.. Earth uses its own force to repell that force.. hence both are bound to each other..

19 july 2006..
Thanks Christopher for pointing out my mistake.. i m glad to learn it.. any way i answered the above question by taking the example of moon.. as we all know that Earth pulls moon towards itself.. but moon also has got some force to stay unaffected due to Earth's gravitational force.. because of the force which is being used to stay unaffected from gravity we have high tides and low tides or in other words we can say that we have varying atmospheric pressures.. or else moon should fall on earth.. this concept is also explained by the Newton's third law of motion.. i have read in big books..

Secondly, I had never mentioned in my answer that it is the gravitational force that is repelling the force exherted by sun.. instead i mentioned some force (not GRAVITY).. I know gravitational force never repels any object..

I m not angry by ur reply instead its just some addition to my knowledge.. thanks for replying..

Answer 2

I am so surprised at the lack of knowledge the people answering this question have. Why are you answering this question if you don't know the answer?

Anyways, pearlsawme is correct, just read the answer above.

Gravity of the sun and the earth repel each other? "To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" when Sun pulls Earth towards itself.. Earth uses its own force to repel that force.. hence both are bound to each other..? Come on, it is time to take physics 101 people. The answer is simple: centripetal force!

I am not angry with the stupidity of some of the answers, I am angry that you would even attempt to answer the question when you obviously have absolutely no clue what you are talking about.

And for your information, gravity is an attractive force, it never works opposite, the larger two objects are, and the closer they are, the more the attraction. There is no gravitational force that repels each other, where could you even come up with this? I think you are thinking of magnetism. But please don't answer the question if you do not know the answer!!

Answer 3

The path of an object under the action of a force depends upon the direction of the force that is acting on the object.

When an object is already moving with a speed, if a force acts in the direction of motion, its speed will increase; if it acts in the opposite direction its speed decreases.
If it acts at an angle, then the path seems to be complicated; nevertheless it is easy to find out.

We resolve the force into two components one perpendicular and another along the direction of motion.

The tangential force either decreases or increases the speed of the object; the perpendicular force pulls the object in its direction.

If the force acts at exactly at angle 90 degree to the motion of the object then the tangential force is zero; and the speed of the object neither decreases nor increases.
But the object moves along the direction of force. It can be shown easily that the path will be a parabola (Projectile motion).

Now consider the force that acts perpendicular the motion of the object also acts in such a way that it is always pointed toward a fixed point.

(The Sun pulls the earth toward it; the force always acts toward the fixed point, the center of Sun. The Earth is going in a straight line perpendicular to this force)

When an object is moving with a speed and if a force acts perpendicular to its motion and the force is always pointed to ward a fixed point then the path of the object will be a circle with the fixed point as center.

This force is called centripetal force.

Any object moves in ‘circle’ under the action of a centripetal force.

No other force is necessary to keep it in circular motion.

If earth had no speed, then earth will be pulled by the Sun towards it. Since the earth has speed in a direction perpendicular to the force, it moves along a circular path.

Answer 4

this happens due to the gravitational force of both the sun and the earth.the distance between them also plays a major role in avoiding the earth falling on the sun.more over the centrifugal force of the earth helps itnto revolve around the sun without falling on it.

Answer 5

Objects [moons satellites etc] revolve around planets and stay in the same path because: The centrifugal force from the rotation is equal to the force of gravity.

Answer 6

Actually the earth is continuously falling towards the sun
like moon falling towards the earth
like artificial satellites falling towards earth
the curvature of the sun is small as compared to the trajectory of the earth so earth tends to continuously "Fall" towards the sun

Answer 7

The earth is falling into the sun. Picture a spinning top. Sooner or later it always stops and falls over. In this case, it will take billions of years, but it will happen.

Answer 8

I very much agree with Chritopher J If an answer is absurd not merely wrong there should be a reduction of points.
A procedure may be set up for the participants to point out absurd answers and an expert consulted before imposing penalty.

Answer 9

because the sun has gravity as well, and the gravity from earth and the gravity from the sun push eachother away... that goes for all the planets

Answer 10

It is too far from the sun that is why. The gravitational force has only the strength to keep the earth in its orbit.