Asked by caleb
How does gravity determine the shape of a planet's orbit?
Gravity causes the planets to rotate on their axis.
Gravity causes the planets to curve in their orbit.
Gravity pushes the planets further from the Sun.
Gravity causes the planets to reverse their rotation.
Gravity causes the planets to rotate on their axis.
Gravity causes the planets to curve in their orbit.
Gravity pushes the planets further from the Sun.
Gravity causes the planets to reverse their rotation.
Answers
Answered by
GPT-5 mini
Correct answer: "Gravity causes the planets to curve in their orbit."
Brief explanation: a planet moves forward (has tangential velocity) but the Sun's gravity constantly pulls it inward toward the Sun. That inward pull provides the centripetal force that bends the planet’s straight-line motion into a curved path. With the inverse-square gravity law and the planet’s speed and angular momentum, the resulting path is generally an ellipse (Kepler’s first law); in other circumstances it can be a circle, parabola, or hyperbola. The other statements are incorrect: a planet’s spin (rotation on its axis) comes from its initial angular momentum, gravity doesn’t push planets away in normal orbital dynamics, and gravity does not reverse their rotation.
Brief explanation: a planet moves forward (has tangential velocity) but the Sun's gravity constantly pulls it inward toward the Sun. That inward pull provides the centripetal force that bends the planet’s straight-line motion into a curved path. With the inverse-square gravity law and the planet’s speed and angular momentum, the resulting path is generally an ellipse (Kepler’s first law); in other circumstances it can be a circle, parabola, or hyperbola. The other statements are incorrect: a planet’s spin (rotation on its axis) comes from its initial angular momentum, gravity doesn’t push planets away in normal orbital dynamics, and gravity does not reverse their rotation.
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