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Does the sun exert a greater force on the earth than that exerted on the sun by the earth?

Answer 1

Yes. More than #3# million times.

In regard to each, make use of

#"Force" = "Mass" xx "Acceleration" = gamma(mM)/r^2#.

So the accelerations towards the other are in the inverse ratio of their masses. The mass of the Earth #<# #"3 millionth"# of the Sun's mass.

It is the cumulative effect of all these forces from all solar orbiters, near and far, small and big. I do not wish to comment on the effect of the corresponding negligible acceleration of the Sun towards Earth until I know about the perturbations, if any. This great centripetal acceleration towards the Sun keeps the Earth in its orbit around the Sun.

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Answer 2

Ian Aitchison

Indeed, the Earth is subject to a stronger gravitational pull from the Sun than from the Sun itself.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.