The gravitational pull between two objects, such as the Sun and Earth, is determined by their masses and the distance between them, as described by Newton's law of universal gravitation. The formula is:
\[ F = G \frac{m_1 m_2}{r^2} \]
where:
- \( F \) is the gravitational force,
- \( G \) is the gravitational constant,
- \( m_1 \) and \( m_2 \) are the masses of the two objects, and
- \( r \) is the distance between their centers.
To specifically answer your question about what would decrease the gravitational pull between the Sun and Earth:
- If the Sun was farther away from Earth: This would decrease the gravitational pull, as the distance \( r \) is increasing, which would result in a smaller value for the force \( F \).
Therefore, the correct response is if the sun was farther away from Earth.