QUESTION IMAGE
Question
what would happen if the moons inertia was greater than the earths gravitational pull on it?
the moon would smash into pluto.
the moon would smash into earth.
the moon would fly out of orbit into space.
Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist changes in its state of motion. The Moon orbits the Earth because the Earth's gravitational pull provides the centripetal force that keeps it in orbit. If the Moon's inertia (its tendency to move in a straight - line at a constant speed) was greater than the Earth's gravitational pull, the centripetal force provided by gravity would no longer be sufficient to keep the Moon in orbit. According to Newton's first law of motion, an object in motion will stay in motion with a constant velocity (in a straight line) unless acted upon by an external force. Since the gravitational force (the external force keeping it in orbit) is insufficient, the Moon would no longer follow the curved orbital path around the Earth and instead move in a straight - line, flying out of orbit into space.
Snap & solve any problem in the app
Get step-by-step solutions on Sovi AI
Photo-based solutions with guided steps
Explore more problems and detailed explanations
The moon would fly out of orbit into space.