What term describes Earth's year-long orbit around the Sun?

What term describes Earth's year-long orbit around the Sun?

• A. Rotation
• B. Orbit
• C. Ecliptic
• D. Revolution

Answer: (D)

The motion of going around another object due to gravity is called a revolution. Earth makes a year-long trip around the Sun, so that movement is a revolution. Rotation, by contrast, is spinning on its own axis—that’s why we have day and night. The path Earth follows around the Sun is called an orbit, which is the shape of that path, but the act of moving around the Sun for a year is described as a revolution. The ecliptic is the plane in which this orbit lies, not the motion itself. So the best term for Earth’s year-long motion around the Sun is revolution.

The motion of going around another object due to gravity is called a revolution. Earth makes a year-long trip around the Sun, so that movement is a revolution. Rotation, by contrast, is spinning on its own axis—that’s why we have day and night. The path Earth follows around the Sun is called an orbit, which is the shape of that path, but the act of moving around the Sun for a year is described as a revolution. The ecliptic is the plane in which this orbit lies, not the motion itself. So the best term for Earth’s year-long motion around the Sun is revolution.