Question

Steve is whirling a rubber cork, tied with a string to his finger, over his head as shown in the figure. The motion of the cork is similar to the motion of a planet in the solar system around the sun. Which force in the solar system is similar to the tension in the string?

Answer 1

The tension in the string corresponds to the gravitational attraction between the Sun and any planet.

Answer 2

Gravitational Force.

Step-by-step explanation:

While Steve is whirling a rubber cork, it developes a situation which is similar to the Solar System. In the rubber cork movement, there's "circular" motion which is possible thanks to the string, that is, the string works as "attraction force", allowing the system to maintain its movement.

Now, in the Solar System, the graviational force is like the string, it's the physical magnitude that maintains planets on their movements, attached to the Sun someway.