How does the sun's gravitational attraction to the earth compare to that of the moon?

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Answer 1 · 2016-07-27T02:00:22

The 3-sd ratio of sun's attractions on the Earth and Moon is 81.8.

Rounded to 4-sd, there is no difference between the mean

distances of the Earth and moon , from the Sun. mean distance for

both is 1496 X 10^5 km.

So, for 3-sd approximation, only the mass ratio matters for inverse-

square-distance law of attraction. The mass data in kg unit are

Earth: 5.97 X 10^24 Moon: 0.073 X 10^24

And so,

the ratio of Sun's attraction

= ratio of the masses

= 81. 8, nearly.