Trying to understand basic gravitation

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In summary, the conversation discusses the speaker's understanding of microscopic and macroscopic structures and their ease of comprehension. They also mention their difficulty in understanding gravity and the circular/elliptical orbits of celestial bodies. The question of why the moon doesn't fall on Earth is posed and the concept of initial velocity and conditions is explained as the reason for orbits. The formation of the moon is also briefly mentioned as a mystery.
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U.Renko
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I have a bit of intuition on microscopic structures, so I "easily" understand things such as chemistry, nuclear and particle physics and the such. I'm no expert in these subject or anything but I do have a easier time learning it.

But I REALLY have a hard time understanding some macroscopical/astronomical structures.
But I intend to fix it.

Anyways, what I still don't understand about gravity is the circular/elliptical orbits of planets/satellites/stars/etc. This question might sound silly but...

Why don't the moon just falls on Earth? I understand it is constantly "falling" towards the Earth and all. What I mean is, why does it have a horizontal component of velocity which makes it "not really fall"? Is it because it had a initial velocity different than zero? Does it depends on the initial conditions of the system or something like that?
 
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Hi U.Renko! :smile:
U.Renko said:
Why don't the moon just falls on Earth? … why does it have a horizontal component of velocity which makes it "not really fall"? Is it because it had a initial velocity different than zero? Does it depends on the initial conditions of the system or something like that?

Yup, that's exactly it! :biggrin:

Anything that's orbiting anything else is doing so only because the initial conditions were right.

(Having said that, the formation of the Moon is actually a bit of a mystery … very likely, it happened when a proto-Moon in the same orbit as Earth "backed into" Earth … I suppose it must have done it with "sidespin", or the debris would just have gone straight up and down again?! :confused:)
 
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What is gravitation?

Gravitation is the natural force by which physical objects with mass attract each other. It is responsible for the movement of planets, stars, galaxies, and other celestial bodies in the universe.

How does gravitation work?

Gravitation is explained by the theory of general relativity, which states that massive objects cause a distortion in the fabric of space-time, creating a gravitational field. Objects with mass are pulled towards this distortion, causing the force of gravitation.

What is the difference between gravity and gravitation?

Gravity is the force of attraction between objects with mass, while gravitation is the phenomenon that explains how this force works. In simple terms, gravity is the effect of gravitation.

What are the laws of gravitation?

The laws of gravitation were first described by Sir Isaac Newton in his famous work, "Principia." These laws state that every mass in the universe is attracted to every other mass with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

How does gravitation affect the motion of objects?

Gravitation is the force that keeps objects in orbit around larger bodies, such as planets orbiting the sun. It also affects the trajectory of objects in free fall, causing them to accelerate towards the center of the larger body. Gravitation is also responsible for the tides on Earth.

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