The moon moves in a near-circular orbit around earth

[lebbo]

examine the truth of the statement

"the moon moves in a near-circular orbit around earth. because the Earth is so much more massive, it own motion is not appreciably affected by the moons presence"

please help

 

[marcus]

examine the truth of the statement

"the moon moves in a near-circular orbit around earth. because the Earth is so much more massive, it own motion is not appreciably affected by the moons presence"

please help

this does not belong in "cosmology", but rather in "general astronomy"

the mass of the moon is about 1/81 times the mass of the earth

In the course of a month, the Earth and moon revolve around a common center of mass
which is close to the center of the earth---within about 3000 miles I reckon.
so the Earth's motion is hardly noticeable

so in its trip around the sun, the Earth WOBBLES a little because of it and the moon doing this monthly circling around each other.
but that wobble is very slight

like you whirling something on a string----something that only has a mass of 2 pounds, or 1/80 of your mass. You are going to wobble a little as you whirl it---but you hardly notice that, most of the moving is done by the less massive thing.

please put questions like that in General Astronomy
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or if it is a homework school problem then it should be in "Homework Help" section

 

[lebbo]

thanks 4 da help