A student claims that the planets orbit the Sun because of gravitational force. Which statement best supports this claim ?
The Sun has more mass than the planets.
Planets rotate on their axis faster than the Sun.
The Sun was the first part of the solar system to form.
Planets are farther from the center of the solar system.
The Sun has more mass than the planets.
The statement "The Sun has more mass than the planets" best supports the claim that the planets orbit the Sun because of gravitational force. This is because according to the law of universal gravitation, the force of gravity between two objects is directly proportional to their masses. Since the Sun has significantly more mass than the planets, it exerts a stronger gravitational force that keeps the planets in orbit around it.
The statement that best supports the claim that the planets orbit the Sun because of gravitational force is: "The Sun has more mass than the planets."
To understand why this statement supports the claim, we need to consider Newton's law of universal gravitation. According to this law, the force of gravitational attraction between two objects depends on their masses and the distance between them. In this case, the Sun has a much larger mass compared to the planets, and therefore, it exerts a stronger gravitational pull on them.
The reason why the planets orbit the Sun is because the Sun's gravitational force overpowers any other forces that could pull the planets away. This gravitational force acts as a centripetal force, constantly pulling the planets towards the Sun and keeping them in their orbits.
Therefore, the greater mass of the Sun compared to the planets is what supports the claim that the planets orbit the Sun because of gravitational force.