Why does the moon and earth circle each other?

Question

Why does the moon and earth circle each other?


(Or does the moon circle the earth or the earth circles the moon?)

Answer 1

They both orbit the center of gravity (or "barycenter") of the Earth-Moon system. This is because they are attracted to each other by gravity. However, rather than moving directly towards each other and colliding, they orbit the center of gravity as a result of their angular momentum and their tangential velocity relative to each other. Each body orbits the barycenter with a tangential velocity such that its centripetal acceleration is equal to the force of gravity exerted on it by the other body. These velocities vary slightly during the orbit because its shape is elliptical, not circular, so the distance from the barycenter to the center of gravity of each body changes slightly over the course of the 27.3-day orbital period. (The Moon takes longer, about 29.5 days, to cycle through its phases, because the system moves relative to the Sun during this time.)

The barycenter of the Earth-Moon system is inside of the Earth, but not at its center. In contrast, the dwarf planet Pluto and its companion Charon orbit a barycenter that is actually outside of Pluto. For this reason, Charon is sometimes considered half of a binary system of dwarf planets, rather than Pluto's moon.

Answer 2

The moon and earth don't "circle" each other, only the moon orbits around the earth. They do this because all mass creates a gravitational force and because the mass of earth is way bigger then the moon's mass the moon circles the earth. but the moon does affect some things on earth like ocean tides

Answer 3

Moon goes around the earth gravitational pull you know. The earth goes around the sun too.

Answer 4

the sun's gravity keeps the earth spinning and the moon orbits earth because of earths gravity, and the moon has a sleight pull on the earth

Answer 5

There is a giant man in the solar system juggling all of the planets! OMFG!