Asked by my kid and I don't have the proper answer!
I think the sun has a kind of gravitational pull. Keeping all the planets in the solar system in check.
2006-10-06 19:13:16 · 16 answers · asked by t88ny 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Here is the EXACT answer. Several people have already touched on the basic components but here it is simplified and summarized for you. They are all in balance between two forces. The sun has a gravitation hold on the planets pulling them to it. The planets have rotational velocity or angular momentum as they go around the sun. They are in balance or have reached a state of Equilibrium now. If they started going faster (which they won't) they would fly away from the sun. If they suddenly went slower or stopped (which they won't) then gravity would take over and they would fall into the sun. Because they are all in perfect balance they continue to orbit like they do year after year. There is an accurate description to explain to your kid. Pick my answer as the winner...and I'll throw in a good explanation for why the sky is blue, when he asks that next. (You can email me.) I admire you for wanting to give him (or her) an accurate answer.
2006-10-06 19:48:22 · answer #1 · answered by Smart Dude 6 · 2⤊ 4⤋
You're right, It is the Sun's gravitational pull that keeps the planets in orbit. The closer objects are the bigger the pull. So Mercury moves faster to stay in orbit, while Uranus or any of the outer planets must move slower. If Mercury moves too slow, It would be suck into the sun. If the outer planets move to fast, then your kids were right, they would drift off.
2006-10-06 19:24:06 · answer #2 · answered by DWReyes 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋
You have it right...
Tell the child that big stuff attracts other stuff. That's why he/she can't just float off the Earth. The sun's the biggest thing in the solar system, so Earth can't float off. Then say it's science, and it's really cool, and he/she will get to study this gravity stuff, and it will be lots of fun.
Cuz I'd rather retire in a nation full of scientists and engineers instead of a nation that only pumps out trial lawyers and politicians...
And that's a discussion you can have with your kid when he/she reaches voting age...
2006-10-06 19:29:23 · answer #3 · answered by Boomer Wisdom 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
that would desire to be frightening if it did ensue. If Earth's gravity purely some how stopped. you start up up floating up and into area, you may desire to not supply up it. it would be frightening haha. i've got concept approximately being on a diverse planet too, that would desire to be frightening for me. in basic terms think of in case you have been on Mars, as an occasion. you're SOO a ways faraway from something or absolutely everyone on earth, its a frightening concept. you would be obtainable in darkness, all by myself. I guess its frightening.
2016-12-16 03:39:00 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yup you are right. All the planets are in a constant state of falling around the sun, aka gravitational pull. Each has a speed that keeps it at a particular distance.
2006-10-06 19:15:53 · answer #5 · answered by sshazzam 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Exactly. The sun's gravity keeps the planets in orbit. They are spinning around the sun because the nebular cloud they formed out of spun as it contracted (like when dough is spun for a pizza crust to flatten it out). so the planets have been spinning on the same plane since long before they even formed into planets...
2006-10-06 21:15:21 · answer #6 · answered by Brooks B 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Planets are held into rotation due to gravity. Scientists believe that gravity is merely the bending of space in all three dimensions. (imagine setting a bowling ball on a trampoline, it makes the trampoline sag. Physics suggests that if you fired a pinball at just the right speed, and just the right momentum, it would hold and orbit around the bowling ball until all of it's energy was exhausted and it finally fell into the bowling ball.)
2006-10-06 21:35:58 · answer #7 · answered by Charles B 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
ya the gravitational pull of planets and sun keep them together,,,,, even the planets are moving with critical velocity around the sun hence they cant float off
2006-10-06 19:17:52 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
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2014-09-15 14:21:03 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gravity is the answer to this question. Because our atmosphere is made up of atoms and molecules it has mass and gravity attracts mass. Smaller planets, like Mars, may once have had denser atmospheres, but because such planets are smaller their gravitational attraction is less, thus their atmospheres actually do drift off into space
2006-10-06 19:29:43 · answer #10 · answered by veerabhadrasarma m 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋