huh?
2006-10-12 13:30:38 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
What about gravatational force what does it do to both the earth and sun seriously i gotta get this homework done!? because these are hard questions
2006-10-12 13:37:03 · update #1
i got a bunch of answers and centrifical force seems right so far?
2006-10-12 13:49:21 · update #2
Earth has linear velocity--it's trying to fly off into space on a straight line. The sun's gravity is trying to pull Earth into it. The two forces balance and the result is Earth's orbit around the sun instead of into it or away from it.
2006-10-12 13:41:25 · answer #1 · answered by Chug-a-Lug 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
An object in linear motion will tend to stay in that linear motion until it is acted on by an outside force. This property is inertia.
The earth wants to travel in a straight line, but gravitational attraction from the sun pulls it toward the sun. However, the
earth's velocity is high enough that the gravitational force and earth's inertia balance precisely, keeping the earth in an elliptical (nearly circular) orbit around the sun.
How fast does the earth need to go to avoid falling into the sun? where we can consider the near circular elliptical orbit to be circular, then
A = V^2/R exactly balances out the acceleration due to sun's gravitational pull.
We know the gravitational force is
F = G * m(1)*m(2) / (R^2)
where m(1) is the mass of the sun and
m(2) is the earth's mass.
R is the distance of the earth from the sun,
G = universal gravitational constant
and with F=mA, so A = F/m
(demonstrated famously by Galileo: the mass of the earth is irrelevant in determining the acceleration determined by sun's gravitational pull: all masses accelerate at the same rate)
V^2/R = Gm(1)/(R^2)
V^2 = Gm(1)/R
V = sqrt(Gm(1)/R)
2006-10-12 13:51:13 · answer #2 · answered by Glenn 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
many have responded to your question by saying gravity. Actually, gravity alone would cause the earth to hit the sun in a heart beat. gravity plus INERTIA cause the earth to stay in orbit. Inertia makes the earth want to continue in a straight line away from the sun. but gravity makes the earth want to go directly toward the sun. Gravity and inertia are in a stable equilibrium right now, and the result is an orbit.
2006-10-12 13:43:50 · answer #3 · answered by Marcella S 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here's another way of looking at it. Suppose you had a bucket of water, suspended by a rope, and you decide to swing the bucket in a circle.
What keeps the water from spilling out of the bucket?
The answer is centrifical force.
2006-10-12 13:46:15 · answer #4 · answered by Allen Montgomery 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi. Movement. If the Earth were stopped in its orbit it would fall to the Sun in about 3 months or so.
2006-10-12 13:42:38 · answer #5 · answered by Cirric 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The same thing that keeps a rock from hitting your head if you whirl it around on a string. But, the Earth doesn't slow down. Think of gravity as the string,
2006-10-13 10:42:55 · answer #6 · answered by Nomadd 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gravity and momentum. It's pulled toward the sun by gravity but it's already going forward; so in a sense it's just a controlled fall.
2006-10-12 13:32:46 · answer #7 · answered by ergonomia 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Dodge Ball.
The sun keeps moving out of the way.
2006-10-12 13:36:46 · answer #8 · answered by Alan Turing 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
the moons gravity =)
Its smaller, but much closer
2006-10-12 13:38:05 · answer #9 · answered by kitkat_rulez 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well, it's not Paul Robinson
2006-10-12 13:33:38 · answer #10 · answered by Flibble 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋