Question

According to Newton's law of gravity, why does Earth orbit the Sun?

A) The Sun exerts a gravitational force on Earth across empty space.
B) Earth and the Sun are continually exchanging photons of light in a way that holds Earth in orbit.
C) Matter contains quarks, and Earth and the Sun attract each other with the "color force" between their quarks.
D) Space around the Sun is curved.

Answer 1

Option a is the correct answer. Earth orbits the Sun because the Sun exerts a gravitational force on Earth according to Newton's universal law of gravitation, acting at a distance and keeping Earth in orbit.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to Newton's law of gravity, the reason Earth orbits the Sun is that the Sun exerts a gravitational force on Earth across empty space. Newton proposed that gravity is a universal force that acts between all material bodies, meaning that the attractive force between the Sun and Earth is responsible for keeping Earth in its orbit. This force of attraction follows Newton's universal law of gravitation, which relates the gravitational force to the masses of the objects involved and the distance between them. It is characterized by an action at a distance, where physical contact is not required, and is responsible for the centripetal force that keeps planets in their orbits around the Sun.