The Moon’s Orbit: Earth vs. Sun

Question

The Moon is much closer to the Earth than it is to the Sun. The gravity from Earth is stronger than the gravity from the Sun at that distance. So the Moon orbits Earth, not the Sun.

The Moon is much closer to the Sun than it is to Earth. The gravity from the Sun is stronger than the gravity from the Earth at that distance. So the Moon orbits Earth, not the Sun.

The Moon is actually much closer to the Sun than it is to the Earth. Therefore, the Moon is orbiting the Sun and the Earth happens to be in its path.

The Moon is much closer to the Earth than it is to the Sun. The gravity from the Sun is stronger than the gravity from the Earth at that distance. So the Moon orbits Sun, not the Earth.

Quizzma Team · Answer

The correct statement is: The Moon is much closer to the Earth than it is to the Sun. The gravity from Earth is stronger than the gravity from the Sun at that distance. So the Moon orbits Earth, not the Sun. Explanation: The Moon orbits the Earth primarily because it is much closer to it than to the Sun. The gravitational force between two objects decreases with distance; hence, even though the Sun has a much larger mass, the distance between the Moon and the Earth is significantly smaller than that between the Moon and the Sun. This results in the Earth’s gravity being strong enough to keep the Moon in orbit around it rather than the Moon being influenced by the Sun’s gravity.

The Moon’s Orbit: Earth vs. Sun

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