How does gravity affect the orbits of Earth and the moon and how do gravity and inertia affect each planet's orbit?
Earth's gravity deformed the moon into a slight oval, with one of its bulges facing Earth. Those bulges quickly swung out of alignment thanks to the moon's asynchronous spin and orbit, but Earth's gravity continually squeezed them back again. One forms where the Earth and moon are closest, and the other forms where they are furthest apart. The force of gravity pulls a planet toward the Sun. Inertia keeps a planet moving in a forward direction. When the force of gravity balances a planet's inertia the result is circular motion. It's a two-way street where gravity is concerned. Not only is the Earth's gravitational pull responsible for the moon's egg shape, having pulled on a young moon during its formation, but it is also still causing the moon's shape to change. The Moon's gravitational pull influences Earth's tides, and Earth's gravity keeps the Moon in orbit. Both the Earth and Moon's movements, including rotations and orbits, regulated by the balance of gravitational forces from each other and the Sun, impact our measures of time and date. The Earth has more gravitational pull than the moon because the Earth has a much greater mass than the moon. The force of gravity pulls a planet toward the Sun. Inertia keeps a planet moving in a forward direction. When the force of gravity balances a planet's inertia the result is circular motion. A planet needs to be moving at just the right speed to stay in orbital motion around the sun. The Earth's gravity pulls the Moon toward Earth. At the same time, the Moon has forward movement, or inertia, that partly counters the force of Earth's gravity. This inertia causes the Moon to orbit Earth instead of falling toward the surface of the planet. The closer a planet is to the Sun, the stronger the Sun's gravitational pull on it, and the faster the planet moves. The farther it is from the Sun, the weaker the Sun's gravitational pull, and the slower it moves in its orbit.
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