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Around and around

There are many orbits in the solar system. Planets and other objects orbit around the Sun. Moons orbit around their planets. The main reason why objects orbit around another object is due to gravityForce of attraction between objects, the strength of which depends on the mass of each object and the distance between them.. Gravity is the force pulling all matter together.

In the seventeenth century, English scientist Isaac Newton (1642–1727) realized the revolutionary idea of gravity when he was just twenty-three years old. Newton explained that the force of gravitation makes every pair of bodies attract and applies to all objects in the universe. This gravitational force relates to why objects fall to Earth as well as the motion of the moon and the planets in orbit. (For further information on gravity, see the Force chapter.)

The pull of...

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1. Introduction
2. Renaissance rules
3. Around and around
4. Why we spin
5. Rotation's moving effects
6. Curving around
7. Experiment 1 - Foucault Pendulum: How can a pendulum demonstrate the rotation of Earth?
8. Experiment 2 - Spinning Effects: How does the speed of a rotating object affect the way centrifugal force can overcome gravity?
9. Design Your Own Experiment