Is a planets gravity determined by how close it is to the sun?

Answer 1

Gravity is the force that pulls all objects towards the center of the earth. So the effect of gravity on moving objects is that it pulls them back towards the center of the earth, causing friction with the any surface beneath them.

Answer 2

The relationship is: Larger orbit ===> Longer period of revolution.

The numerical relationship is Kepler's third law:

For every object in orbit around the same central body (like the sun, for instance),

(the square of the orbital period) divided by (the cube of the distance)

is the same number, as long as you use the same units for each body.

Technically, the "distance" in that law is the semi-major axis of the ellipse that

the orbit follows. For the planets, their orbits are so close to being circles that

you can use their average distance from the sun, and not be too far off. But

that doesn't work for comets, whose orbits are very "eccentric" ellipses (more

egg-shaped).

Answer 3

As you move away from the sun, the time to complete an orbit increases. ============================================ In ANY system of small bodies orbiting a much larger body, the period of an orbit depends only the orbit's size, and NOT on the mass of the small orbiting bodies. Larger orbits have longer periods. The mathematical relationship is: T2 divided by R3 is a constant number for all of the small bodies in the system. 'T' is the period of the orbit ... the 'T'ime taken for one revolution. 'R' is the 'R'adius of the orbit, or the distance of the small orbiting body from the large central body. (Actually the semi-major axis of the elliptical orbit.)

Answer 4

Kepler's "laws of motion" describe the fact that gravitational bodies move in elliptic paths where the sun occupies one focus and the area swept out by the line between the orbiting planet and the sun is equal for any given time interval. So thirty days, when the planet is furthest from the sun, sweeps over the same area that thirty days when it is closest. Thus the angular change during the month at close approach, as seen from the sun, is greater than when the planet is further away. The orbital speed is necessarily greater then too.

Answer 5

Depending on the direction of movement, how far away the 2 objects are and how fast they are moving it could change another objects course and/or speed, draw it to the bigger object (usually impact) or it could slow the other other object.

Answer 6

We normally expect to see that big planets have more mass, and therefore higher gravity, but this isn't assured. Saturn, for example, is nearly as LARGE as Jupiter, but is much less MASSIVE, and we're not sure why.

Answer 7

Gravity always exerts a force on an object in the direction of the vector sum

of all gravitational forces on it. If nothing constrains it, then it undergoes

acceleration in that direction.

Answer 8

The further out from the primary, the longer the orbit of the satellite is. The mass of the satellite doesn't matter; it is the mass of the primary and the distance that determines the length of the orbit.

In the case of a planet in orbit around the Sun, the more distant the orbit, the longer it takes.

Answer 9

No, the shape of a planet's orbit does not depend upon its speed, although the shape of the orbit does affectthe speed. In a highly elliptical orbit, the planet will move faster when it is close to the sun, and slower when it is farther from the sun. In a more circular orbit, the distance from the sun doesn't significantly change, therefore, neither does the speed of the orbit. You should understand that it is the distance of an orbit from the sun, not the shape of the orbit, which determines the speed of the orbit. The closer to the sun, the faster the orbit. The shape of an orbit results only from the momentum that the planet had when it first formed (possibly altered by later collisions with relatively large objects).

Answer 10

Yes and No.

More massive planets have a stronger gravitational pull. Often larger planets are more massive than smaller ones, but that does not always have to be true! You can have a large planet with a low density.

Size, as the distance across the planet's diameter, has a small inverse effect on the gravitational pull of the planet - the gravity is lower further away from the "center of gravity" which in the case of a planet is at the center of the (almost) spherical body.