Explain in your own words how to answer this so that even the child can understand it.
2007-12-16 07:38:59 · 12 answers · asked by draydur 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Because of the interplay between the "gravitational pull" each planetary ball (The Earth & The Moon) have on each other...AND...
Their "inertial energy" (the energy of the moon's rotational velocity...which is another way of saying...the speed at which it spins around the Earth...)
The moon is spinning at such a rate of velocity around the earth...that "rotational motion" is fighting against the gravitational pull of the Earth...enough of a "fight against it" that it prevents it from crashing into the earth...but that "fight" is not enough to allow it to forever escape the pull of the earth...so the moon is "trapped" into orbit around the Earth...and will be "trapped" in orbit around the Earth for a very long time...it's a "tug-of-war" balance that works very nicely for the earth...because the moon causes the rise and fall of the ocean's tides...which we suspect had a lot to do with how organic life originally started billions of years ago...
And...lucky us...it would be very "bad" if the moon didn't have that balance position in relation to the Earth, or it would, indeed, plunge down and smack the earth, killing every thing on the surface of our planet...
2007-12-16 07:48:55 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Basically as the moon orbits the Earth, its speed around the Earth is enough to offset the gravitational pull of the Earth trying to pull the moon closer.
It's the same way a rocket reaches orbit -- or orbital velocity. It's going around the Earth in a circular motion fast enough that it can't be pulled back to Earth, but not fast enough that it can break away from Earth.
Simply put, the moon is falling in a circle around the Earth.
2007-12-16 15:49:44 · answer #2 · answered by Joe B. 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tie a rock to the end of a string and swing it in a circle. Now ask "Why doesn't the string pull the rock into the center of the circle?" The answer is the same as why gravity doesn't pull the Moon down to Earth. Both the rock and the moon have momentum carrying them around in a circular path, and the pull towards the center is just enough to keep them in that same circle every time it goes around.
2007-12-16 15:47:41 · answer #3 · answered by dogwood_lock 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
In its orbit, the Moon is moving sideways.
If you throw an apple sideways, it will eventually fall to the ground, but at some distance from you.
If you go higher, it will fall further away (because it takes more time to fall).
If you throw it faster, it will fall further away.
The Earth is round, not flat. If you throw the apple much faster sideways, by the time it should have hit the ground, the ground is no longer there because it curves away. The apple will have more time in the air before hitting the ground.
If you throw it fast enough, it will fall at the same rate as the ground curves away. The distance between the apple and the ground will stay the same. Of course, if you try that with an apple while standing on Earth, the air resistance will slow down the apple and it will eventually hit the ground.
The Moon is moving sideways fast enough that, by the time it falls to where the ground should have been, there is no ground there.
It just keeps falling forever, always missing the Earth's surface because the Moon is moving sideways.
In the vacuum of space, there is no air to slow it down.
2007-12-16 15:44:47 · answer #4 · answered by Raymond 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Well my young friend, the moon IS falling to Earth, it's just that the sun and the other heavenly bodies keeps pulling it away. It's an unending tug of war.
Or you can tell them that the Moon is actually "The Death Star" from "The Empire Strikes Back", and that Luke Skywalker parked it there for repairs, but never got around to it, so it sat there and collecting dust. I personally like this explanation better than the first.
2007-12-16 15:48:41 · answer #5 · answered by HotDockett 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
it does fall. not TOWARD earth, but AROUND earth. thats what an orbit is. its just moving to fast in a forward motion to fall straight down. but gravity still pulls it toward the center the earth.
the moons momentum is stronger than gravity.
the moon is actually moving AWAY from us at a speed of approx 1 inch per year.
2007-12-16 16:15:11 · answer #6 · answered by Mercury 2010 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Did you know that the moon is slowly moving away from the Earth at a rate of about 1-2 inches a year... in about 10billion years it will be slung into the depths of space.
SCIENCE!
2007-12-16 15:53:26 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I like the examples of spinning something around at the end of a string, but I would recommend a rubber band instead. Then you can see better how one force balances the other. If you decrease the motion, the thing *will* fall in.
2007-12-16 15:59:00 · answer #8 · answered by Brant 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
when you have one thing spinning around really fast around another thing, it won't fall in. (get him/her to try it by spinning a yo yo around his her head in a circle BEING CAREFUL not to get hit/let the kid get hit lol).
explain that the reason that the moon doesnt fall on the earth is because it is spinning really fast around the earth just like the yo yo was spinning. when things spin really fast around another thing, they experience a force that keeps them from falling in on each other.
2007-12-16 15:45:24 · answer #9 · answered by shadowsjc 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well tidal forces is making the moon move away, so no it wont
2007-12-16 16:37:15 · answer #10 · answered by Derchin 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋