1. Orbiting Path: The planet follows a curved path, an ellipse, around the sun. It's not a perfect circle, but more like a slightly squashed circle.
2. Gravitational Pull: The sun's immense gravity pulls on the planet, keeping it in its orbit. The planet also exerts a gravitational pull on the sun, but since the sun is much more massive, the planet's pull is insignificant.
3. Constant Motion: The planet is constantly moving in its orbit, never staying still. Its speed changes depending on where it is in the orbit. It moves faster when it's closer to the sun and slower when it's farther away.
4. Time to Complete a Revolution: It takes a specific amount of time for a planet to complete one full orbit around the sun. This is called a year for that planet. For example, Earth takes 365.25 days to complete one revolution.
5. Not Colliding: Even though the sun's gravity is pulling the planet, the planet's forward motion prevents it from falling into the sun. It's like a constant balancing act between gravity and inertia.
In simpler terms: Imagine a ball on a string being swung around in a circle. The string represents the gravity of the sun, and the ball represents the planet. The ball is constantly moving, and the string keeps it from flying off in a straight line.
This is how planets revolve around the sun – a constant interplay of gravity and motion!