What happens when you throw a basketball up toward the hoop? If you are lucky, the ball sinks into the net. You score two points before the ball drops down to the ground. The basketball isn’t heavy. Why doesn’t it stay up in the air when you throw it? Have you ever heard the saying, What goes up must come down? This saying helps explain what happens to the basketball. It is being acted on by an invisible force called gravity. Gravity is the force in the universe that attracts all objects to each other. Gravity has existed since the beginning of the universe. It holds everything in the universe in place. We know it is always there. It is hard to understand how it works. First, you need to understand that there is gravitational attraction between all objects. There is gravitational attraction between you and Earth, between Earth and the Moon, and between Earth and the Sun. You cant feel the gravitational attraction between you and Earth. However, it is what keeps your feet planted firmly on the ground. Imagine spinning around and around on a merry-go-round. As long as you hold on, you will stay on the merry-go-round. Don’t let go! You will fly off and land on the ground. This analogy helps us visualize the gravitational attraction between Earth and you. Earth is spinning on its axis. Gravity keeps you on Earth rather than flying out into space.

Now think about the gravitational attraction between Earth and the Moon. The same force that keeps you on Earth pulls the Moon and Earth together. This attraction keeps the Moon in orbit around Earth. Also think about the affect of the Moons gravitational force on Earths oceans. The gravitational pull of the Moon makes the ocean tides rise and fall.

There is attraction between you and Earth and between the Moon and Earth. The Sun also has a gravitational pull on Earth. This attraction makes the Earth orbit the Sun. The Suns attraction is very strong. All objects in the solar system orbit around this medium-sized star. What would happen if the Suns gravitational attraction suddenly disappeared? All the planets, including Earth, would fly off into space just like you would if you let go of the merry-go-round.

There is gravitational attraction between all objects. Why is the effect stronger in some cases? For example, Earths gravity has a more powerful effect on you than the Suns gravity. How could this be possible? After all, the Suns gravitational attraction holds all of the objects in the solar system. The force of gravity between two objects actually depends on two things. It depends on the mass of the two objects. It also depends on the distances between them. The greater the mass of the objects, the greater the gravitational force between them. In other words, the bigger an object is, the more gravity it has. Distance also has a large effect. The closer objects are to each other, the stronger their gravitational force of attraction. As they get farther apart, the force between them gets weaker. The Sun is much more massive than Earth, but the distance between you and Earth is less. The gravitational pull of the Sun has little effect on you because the distance is so large.

Gravity is the invisible force that attracts all objects, no matter their size or mass. The Sun has the strongest gravitational force of any object in the solar system. It attracts all astronomical objects into orbit around itself. Without this force, everything would fly off into the universe.

Which of the following summaries expresses the main points of the passage best?
Group of answer choices

I believe gravity is the most important aspect of our universe. Without it we would all be floating off into the universe. There wouldn’t be any orbits; instead, all planetary bodies would simply float around, running into each other when they crossed paths and just wandering forever.

There is a gravitational force between all objects in the universe. Gravitational force is what keeps all components of our solar system in orbit around the Sun, as well as moons in orbit around planets. The force of gravity affects Earth's tides and holds us on Earth's surface. The force of gravity between objects depends on their masses and the distance between them.

Gravity is hard to understand and scientists have little to no understanding of how it works. We know that gravity is out there, but the specifics are often lost on us. Plants, animals, and humans are all able to grow tall due to the pull on Earth from the Sun. Without the Sun we would all just stretch out along Earth's surface.

None of the above