The moon also moves sideways in accelerating speed, thus making the distance between earth and the moon greater. Doesn’t it makes more sense that we would say that the moon falls out of orbit or falls from the earth? This question is keeping me busy for over 5 years. I really like to hear from scientists about this subject. Thanks in advance!
In: Physics
An idealistic depiction of the moon would be at a static distance from the Earth. Still, it would accelerate toward the Earth at all times, due to the nature of the [centripetal model](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centripetal_force) of its acceleration.
It is exactly as a yo-yo you swing in a horizontal circle: the force that keeps the yo-yo moving in a circle is the string directly toward the center (you). The yo-yo is ideally **not** accelerated “sideways” at any point. There’s no string between us and the Moon, but what takes its place and direction is gravity.
However, the Moon must necessarily have an imperfect orbit of an ellipsis, which causes its distance from us to wax and wane. [Tidal effects](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon#Tidal_effects) and the larger schemes of gravities of the Solar System and will cause it to slowly move even further away over time.
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