Orbital Motion

Planets revolve around the Sun without drifting away due to a balance between gravity and forward motion. This movement is called orbital motion.

Orbital motion occurs because of the interaction between gravity and inertia.

Gravity is the force that pulls objects together. The Sun’s gravity pulls planets toward it.

Inertia is an object’s tendency to keep moving in a straight line unless an external force changes its direction.

Imagine swinging a ball on a string in a circle. The string pulls it inward, just as gravity does, while the ball continues moving forward due to inertia.

Similarly, the Sun’s gravity pulls planets inward while their inertia moves them forward, creating a curved path called an orbit.

Orbits are usually elliptical. Just as planets revolve around the Sun, the Moon revolves around Earth in a movement called the Moon’s orbital motion.

This occurs because Earth’s gravity affects the Moon more than the Sun’s gravity does.

Earth pulls the Moon inward, while the Moon’s forward motion creates an orbital path, keeping it in continuous motion around Earth.