If earths velocity is what keeps us in orbit then if we slow down do we fall into the sun? Are we slowing down? And if not why not? Isn’t there a tiny fraction of friction in space that might slow us down eventually? It seems so unlikely that we would enter the solar system so perfectly that we would start to orbit. Have there been a thousand planets before us that just missed the mark or is there something keeping us on track?
In: Physics
No, we are not slowing down, because yes, there is no friction in space. What would there be friction against, anyway? We didn’t “enter” the solar system with the right speed to orbit, we didn’t even really “enter” the system at all. We formed with the rest of the solar system out of a cloud of already spinning gas and dust.
Latest Answers