Question 4) Gravity and Planets A) Explain how mass affects gravity, using as yo

Question

Question 4) Gravity and Planets A) Explain how mass affects gravity, using as your evidence the fact that Jupiter's moons orbit Jupiter faster than our moon orbits Earth. B) Explain how distance affects gravity, using as your evidence the fact that Mercury orbits the sun faster than Neptune does. C) A student is confused about how gravity and Newton's Laws interact. The student says that Earth orbits the sun because it feels more force of gravity from the sun than the sun feels from Earth. Tell me what is wrong with this but also why we actually do orbit the sun.

Explanation / Answer

A) The gravity is dependent on the size of both objects and distance between them. The lesser the distance the larger is the gravity and heavier the objects the stronger is the gravity. Jupiter is very larger and very heavy than Earth also its spinning speed is faster than Earth so it has more gravity compared to the Earth and that is the reason Jupiter's moon mover faster than Earth's moon

B) In the formula of gravity, gravity is inversely proportional to the square of distance between. This can be seen in given example, the Mercury is very close to Sun so the effect to gravity is larger compared to distant planet Neptune.

C) The pull of Sun towards Earth is definitely stronger than Earth's pull towards the Sun but that is not the reason Earth orbits around the sun. Initially at the beginning of the solar system the Earth gained velocity and as there is no friction in vacuum the gravitation pull of sun is enough to keep Earth tugged to specific distance. The perpendicular velocity to the gravitation pull keeps the planet in the circular trajectory.

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