Question

The earth is acted upon by the gravitation of the sun, even though it does not fall into the sun. Why?

Answer 1

Explanation of the given statement

1. Earth does not fall into the sun because it revolves around the sun due to which centrifugal force is created, which pushes the earth away from the sun, and simultaneously to keep the earth in its orbit, a centripetal force acts along with the gravitational force in the inward radial direction.
2. The total centripetal and centrifugal force are equal and in the opposite directions so they cancel each other and the earth revolves around the sun along its orbit.
3. A centripetal force is always directed towards the center of the circular path that the body is following.
4. A centrifugal force is a pseudo force that acts from the center to radially outwards.

Mathematically,

Centrifugal force$=m{\omega }^{2}r$

$$\begin{gathered} m=Massofthebody \\ \omega =Angularvelocityofthebody \\ r=Radiusofthecircularpath \end{gathered}$$

Hence, the earth does not fall into the sun because of the balance in centripetal and centrifugal forces.