eli5: I’ve heard orbit described as continuously falling past or missing the Earth, how then do objects in geosynchronous orbit above a single point not fall out of the sky?

Question

eli5: I’ve heard orbit described as continuously falling past or missing the Earth, how then do objects in geosynchronous orbit above a single point not fall out of the sky?

In: 2204

Answer 1

Like your five.

Ok, grab a string and tie a weight to the end. Now spin around with the weight at the end of the string. This is “sorta” like an orbit.

Now imagine this string is actually gravity pulling it into you. There will be a distance away and a spinning speed that it will all balance out that weight will stay with you, just like the string, but if you spin too fast or too slow the weight will fly away or come crashing back to you.