A student claims that the planets orbit the Sun because of gravitational force. Which statement best supports this claim ?
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 best statement that supports the claim that the planets orbit the Sun because of gravitational force is:
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.
To understand why this statement supports the claim, we need to review the concept of gravitational force. Gravitational force is the force of attraction between two objects due to their mass. The greater the mass of an object, the stronger its gravitational force.
In the context of the solar system, the Sun is by far the most massive object. It contains more than 99% of the total mass of the entire solar system. The planets, on the other hand, have significantly smaller masses compared to the Sun.
Because of the Sun's massive size, it exerts a gravitational force on all the planets in the solar system. This gravitational force pulls the planets towards the Sun, causing them to orbit around it.
Therefore, the statement that the Sun has more mass than the planets supports the claim that the planets orbit the Sun because of gravitational force, as it highlights the significant difference in mass between the two.