What is the size of the gravitational force acting on the earth due to the sun?

Consider the earth following its nearly circular orbit about the sun. The earth has mass earth = 5.9810^24 kg and the sun has mass sun = 1.9910^30 kg. They are separated, center to center, by r = 93 million miles = 150 million km.

Answer 1

Zero.

Although Newton defined gravity as a force, this is only a good approximation and there is no such thing as a gravitational force.

According to Einstein's general theory of relativity, gravity is the curvature of four-dimensional spacetime, which is curved by the mass of the Sun. The Earth travels along a geodesic, which is the spacetime extension of a straight line, with no force from the Sun acting on it.

Although the Earth's orbit looks elliptical, it is actually the result of projecting the four-dimensional geodesic onto the familiar three dimensions.

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Answer 2

The gravitational force acting on the Earth due to the Sun is approximately 3.53 x 10^22 newtons.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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