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It is because the planets have a linear velocity and due to their inertia and no air resistance(vacuum), they retain their linear momentum. When the Sun's gravity pulls on the planets it does so at a 90 degree angle so all it can do is make it revolve around the Sun since perpendicular forces don't affect each other.

So the planets have a linear speed which is not affected by the sun's gravity and at the same time are pulled at by the sun's gravity.

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What is an example of a force of nature?

An example of a force of nature is gravity, which is the force that attracts objects toward each other. This force is responsible for keeping planets in orbit around the sun and objects on Earth from floating off into space.


How does gravity influence the Earth's orbit around the sun?

Gravity is the force that keeps the Earth in orbit around the sun. The sun's gravity pulls the Earth towards it, causing the Earth to move in a curved path around the sun. This gravitational force is what keeps the Earth in its stable orbit and prevents it from flying off into space.


You jump off a truck and accelerate toward the surface of the Earth Does the Earth accelerate toward you?

Yes, according to Newton's third law of motion, when you jump off the truck, you exert a force on the Earth, causing it to accelerate slightly towards you. However, due to the Earth's much larger mass, the acceleration of the Earth would be too small to be noticeable.


What would happen if gravity were not a force acting between Earth and the sun?

If gravity were not a force between Earth and the sun, Earth would move in a straight line tangential to its orbit instead of orbiting around the sun. This would cause Earth to drift off into space, no longer held in orbit by the sun's gravitational pull.


Heat we feel feel from the sun is what?

The heat we feel from the sun is infrared radiation. This type of electromagnetic radiation is given off by the sun and warms the Earth's surface when absorbed.

Related Questions

Gas molecules in the atmosphere are pulled toward the earth by what?

gravity pulls gas molecules down to earth because the force of it keeps us on the earth


Could you please give your description for moonlight?

moonlight is the sun's light reflecting off the moon and beaming toward earth.


What is different between sun and moon?

The sun is a giant nuclear fusion reactor and everything in the solar system orbits around it or is pulled into it by the sun's gravity and is destroyed. The sun gives off heat, light and radiation. The moon is a rock that orbits the earth.


What maintain the speed of earth as it moves in its orbit around the sun?

Gravity ! The earth is being constantly pulled towards the sun, by the sun's gravitational pull. At the same time, centrifugal force is trying to 'throw' the earth out into space. The two forces just about cancel each other out - resulting in the earth remaining in orbit around the sun.


During winter months does earth travel away from the sun?

If one end of the earth's axis is leaning away from the sun, then the other end must be leaning toward it. Whichever half of the earth happens to be leaning away has Winter, while the half that's leaning toward the sun at the same time has Summer at the same time.


What force keeps the Earth in its orbit and stops it flying off into space?

The force that keeps the Earth in its orbit and prevents it from flying off into space is gravity. Gravity is generated by the mass of the Earth and pulls objects toward its center, creating the centripetal force that maintains the Earth's orbit around the Sun.


What gives off its own light the sun the moon or the earth?

The Sun.


The sun the moon and the Earth are all linked by gravity The sun pulls more than twice as hard as the Earth so why doesn't the moon go flying off to be with the sun?

Because the sun doesn't actually pull harder than the earth does. The basics of orbital mechanics show us that if something is at the right distance and going at the right speed, it will stay at that same distance and speed until virtually forever. The earth also orbits the moon while the moon orbits it, and the resulting centre of mass is what actually orbits the sun. because three is nothing to stop either of these orbits, the moon and earth continue to orbit the other and the centre of mass continues to orbit the sun. Besides this, the moon is pulled away slightly when it is between the sun and earth, but is pulled back to the earth when the earth is between the moon and sun. This creates some imbalance in the distance the moon is from earth, and in total the average is a certain distance which results in the moon staying right where it is; next to earth.


Why does the moon and the sun can't fall?

The moon does fall toward the earth, but it is in pseudo-equilibrium with its momentum. Think of the moon as a baseball that's been batted so hard, it actually falls over the horizon -- over the curvature of the earth. It is in freefall around the earth. It circles around the Earth which circles around the sun, but if the Earth and Sun were to somehow suddenly not exist, the Moon would travel in a straight line instead of in a circle. The Earth actually does the same to the Sun -- the Earth falls over the Sun's horizon. Earth's gravity is strong, and no human astronaut has actually ever escaped it -- the reason astronauts experience weightlessness in orbit is not because the earth's gravity no longer affects them (if it did not, the spacecraft they are in would fly off into deep space instead of orbitting the earth), it is because they are in freefall; you would obtain the same effect if you were in an airplane plummeting straight down toward the earth.


Is it true that a satellite is always being pulled by gravity?

Yes it is true. There is no way to turn gravity off or shield anything from it, so everything is always being pulled toward everything else by gravity.


Does the sun turn off?

The answer is no its on every day but the earth rotates and wherever the the sun is shining that the place theres sun


How does gravity keep the world up?

Gravity is a force of attraction between objects and it keeps objects with mass, like Earth, pulled together. Gravity is what keeps Earth orbiting around the Sun and prevents Earth from flying off into space. It's what keeps us grounded on the surface of the Earth.