Gravity & Orbits
📋 What it is
Gravity is an attraction between masses; an orbit is a constant "falling around" caused by gravity.
🗣️ Coach says
Gravity pulls any two masses together — the more mass and the closer, the stronger the pull. An orbit is a clever balance: a moon or satellite moves sideways fast enough that as gravity pulls it down, it keeps missing the ground and circles instead. It’s falling forever.
🧠 Memory hook
Gravity pulls; orbit = moving sideways fast enough to keep "falling around" and never hit.
😂 Giggle
Why was the red giant so embarrassing?
It couldn't stop expanding at parties!
😲 Whoa!
Astronauts on the Space Station aren’t "weightless because there’s no gravity" — gravity there is almost as strong as on the ground; they’re FALLING around Earth, and so is everything with them.
✅ Quick check: Why do astronauts float in the Space Station if gravity is still strong up there?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
Because they’re in free fall — they and the station are constantly falling around Earth together, so nothing pushes back on them.
Orbit is continuous free fall; "weightlessness" is falling, not absent gravity.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Swing a ball on a string in a circle. Let go — it flies off straight. The string was your "gravity".