A student claims that the planets orbit the Sun because of gravitational force. Which statement best supports this claim ?(1 point)
A.) The Sun has more mass than the planets.
B.) Planets rotate on their axis faster than the Sun.
C.) The Sun was the first part of the solar system to form.
D.) Planets are farther from the center of the solar system.
A.) The Sun has more mass than the planets.
The statement that best supports the claim that the planets orbit the Sun because of gravitational force is:
A.) The Sun has more mass than the planets.
Gravitational force is directly proportional to the mass of an object. Therefore, the Sun, being much more massive than the planets, exerts a greater gravitational pull on them, causing them to orbit it.
Is this correct?
Yes, that is correct. The statement A) The Sun has more mass than the planets is the statement that best supports the claim that the planets orbit the Sun because of gravitational force.
The statement that best supports the claim is A.) The Sun has more mass than the planets.
To understand why this statement supports the claim that the planets orbit the Sun because of gravitational force, we need to recall Newton's law of universal gravitation. This law states that every object in the universe attracts every other object with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers.
In the case of the planets orbiting the Sun, the Sun's massive size and higher mass compared to the planets play a crucial role. The Sun's gravitational force is significantly greater than that of the planets due to its higher mass. This gravitational force exerts a strong pull on the planets, keeping them in orbit around the Sun.
So, the statement A.) "The Sun has more mass than the planets" best supports the claim that the planets orbit the Sun because of gravitational force as it highlights the significant difference in mass between the Sun and the planets, emphasizing why the Sun's gravitational force dominates the planets' movement.