Friction and weight are common experiences and taken for granted, but were not always understood. Aristotle believed that objects that contained the "element," earth, fell because Earth was at the center of the universe, and that was the natural order of things. We now know that weight, which is the force of gravity between objects, not only makes apples fall from trees, but keeps the Moon circling the Earth, and the Earth circling the sun. Without gravity to hold them in orbit, they would continue to move in a straight line until interfered with.