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bengaltiger14
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Is it because the moon is actually falling in free fall TOWARDS the Earth but it is moving in a circular path the same as the Earth's path??
All moving objects in the vicinity of Earth travel in an elliptical orbit around the Earth's center of mass unless atmospheric drag or some other force sucks energy out of the orbit. How close the objects come to the Earth's center of mass is the key. If the closest point in its orbit happens to be below the Earth's surface, it hits the ground.bengaltiger14 said:Is it because the moon is actually falling in free fall TOWARDS the Earth but it is moving in a circular path the same as the Earth's path??
I think this is missing the OP's point.BobG said:While virtually all orbits are elliptical (the odds of an object's orbit being perfectly circular and staying perfectly circular are virtually nil), the Moon's orbit is almost circular.
DaveC426913 said:This is also why - despite 3] being the most finely-balanced of the three cases (which would suggest it's the rarest) - it is, in fact, quite a common occurence in our universe.
I made this point in 1]. But there's no dirth of examples of 2] - despite them being one-time events.Office_Shredder said:On the other hand, if things have struck or escaped from each other, they're no longer around for us to witness, so it makes sense we would see orbitting (I feel like I'm mispelling that...) more than anything else
The moon orbits the earth due to the force of gravity. This force is constantly pulling the moon towards the earth, but the moon also has a tangential velocity that keeps it in orbit.
The force of gravity between two objects is directly proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. In the case of the moon and the earth, the earth's larger mass and the distance between them is what keeps the moon in orbit.
If the moon's orbit was disrupted, it would either crash into the earth or fly off into space. This could happen due to a significant change in the mass or velocity of the moon, or if it was affected by the gravitational pull of another large object.
No, the moon's orbit is actually slightly elliptical, meaning it is not a perfect circle. This is due to the gravitational pull of other objects in the solar system, such as the sun and other planets, which can slightly alter the moon's orbit over time.
No, it is highly unlikely that the moon will ever fall and strike the earth. The moon's orbit is relatively stable and it would require a significant change in its mass or velocity to disrupt it enough to cause a collision with the earth.