Eli5: How do satellites stay in orbit, and don’t gravity pull them to the surface?
In: Earth Science
Because they move fast, its kinda (but not exactly) like when you have a rock on an elastic string and spin it around your head, the elastic pulls the rock In but the centrifugal force pushes the rock away, “orbit” would be if the rock was spun at just the right speed that the centrifugal force and the force from the elastic are the same.
In orbit the rock is a satelite, the elastic rope Gravity and the centrifugal force is caused by the high velocity.
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