Gravity keeps earth orbiting the sun. Earth is about 93,205,679 miles from the sun. What does this distance tell you about the masses of earth and the sun?

Question

Physics

Kadin Fox

27 July, 10:26

Gravity keeps earth orbiting the sun. Earth is about 93,205,679 miles from the sun. What does this distance tell you about the masses of earth and the sun?

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Answers (2)

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Sylvia Lambert · Answer 1

The planets near the sun are smaller (and made out of rock or earth)

Blair · Answer 2

The distance tells us nothing about the mass of the Sun or the mass of the Earth. Any two objects can orbit each other at any distance. It doesn't matter whether they both have small masses. It doesn't matter whether they both have huge masses. And it doesn't matter whether one is Tiny and the other is huge. A meteoroid the size of a grain of sand can orbit the Sun at any distance. Tremendous numbers of them do.