Why do planets have enough centripetal force to prevent themselves from crashing into the sun?

Question

Why do planets have enough centripetal force to prevent themselves from crashing into the sun?

In: 1

Answer 1

The most short answer is that the matter in each solar system starts with differing amounts of energy. Matter that has low energy ends up being absorbed by the star(s) in that system. Matter with sufficient energy orbit the star(s) ends up coalescing into comets asteroids and other such bodies. Those bodies can form into planets via their gravitational pull. So the planets are essentially a combination of matter that already had enough initial energy (mostly) to orbit rather than crash into the star(s).