how does gravity keep a planet moving in an orbit around the sun?

Answer 1

Actually orbits are maintained through the interaction of two forces -- gravity and linear velocity. The sun's gravity is constantly trying to pull the planets into it, but at the same time the speed the planets move through space is trying to fling them outward into deeper space. The two forces cancel and the result is a stable orbit for each planet. This interaction between gravity and speed is the same thing that keeps satellites like the shuttle in orbit around Earth.

Answer 2

Gravity does not keep the planets moving. They would move even without gravity, only in a straight line instead of a curved path around a star. There is no air in space so any motion that a planet happens to have will continue forever. Gravity merely curves that motion into an orbit.

Answer 3

gravity keeps planets in orbit because orbits aren't perfectly round. they're ovals. imagine earth is moving past the sun along one of the longer sides of the oval. as it's moving towards the sun the gravity is pulling it along the orbit, but once it passes the sun, the velocity is pushing it forward and the gravity of the sun is kind of pulling it back. eventually the gravity wins, the velocity runs out, so earth turns around and slings back the other way on the other side of it's orbit. again it is pulled toward the sun but the velocity pushes it past it; eventually the earth is pulled back, and turns the corner again to come back around, ad nauseum.

Answer 4

i'm only going to grant my gut reaction. have you ever considered those massive funnels in the Mall that you'll drop 1 / 4 into on the great? The quarter spins and spins and spins previously finally falling into the middle. i'm questioning it truly is basically the challenge with celestial bodies. they are both falling into the daylight in a spiral, or they are transferring faraway from the daylight in a spiral--interior of a similar way that the Moon is transferring faraway from us. i have never any medical information behind this, yet when it truly is genuine i'm positive you'll discover some on line. It only doesn't seem plausible to me that 9 planets have all by some ability found equilibrium and could stay in orbit continually. i imagine it truly is extra likely that the time that it truly is taking for them to fall into or faraway from the daylight is so long that from our perspective it doesn't quite count number. And, per chance they are falling into or away so slowly that the daylight will come to an end an incinerate the planets previously their fall is complete.

Answer 5

Centrifugal force and mass,but the earth is slowing down.Its just so small its not noticeable.