Moon is tidally locked , rotates around Earth because of the gravitational force . But my question is why moon doesn't fall into Earth surface ? What is the exact reason for this?
The truth is that the moon IS constantly trying to fall upon the earth, due to the force of gravity; but it is constantly missing, due to its tangential velocity.
To understand this, think of whirling a rock, tied to the end of a string, around and around, with your hand just above your head. As the rock travels in circles it is constantly being pulled toward you by the force on the string (which is like Earth's pull of gravity on the moon). Why doesn't the rock come bonk you on the head, if you are constantly pulling it toward your head? The answer is that the rock is always trying to change its velocity vector to come do just that; but the change is only enough to just keep it in a circular path, like the pull on the Moon is just enough to keep it in a circular orbit around Earth
| The truth is that the moon IS constantly trying to fall upon the earth, due to the force of gravity; but it is constantly missing, due to its tangential velocity. To understand this, think of whirling a rock, tied to the end of a string, around and around, with your hand just above your head. As the rock travels in circles it is constantly being pulled toward you by the force on the string (which is like Earth's pull of gravity on the moon). Why doesn't the rock come bonk you on the head, if you are constantly pulling it toward your head? The answer is that the rock is always trying to change its velocity vector to come do just that; but the change is only enough to just keep it in a circular path, like the pull on the Moon is just enough to keep it in a circular orbit around Earth |
