If gravity suddenly vanished, what immediate trajectory would stars follow within a galaxy?
Answer
They would immediately continue moving in straight lines tangential to their current orbits.
The text explicitly states that gravity provides the continuous inward pull required to maintain orbits. If this force were to suddenly vanish, the principle of inertia would take over. According to physics, an object in motion continues in a straight line at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external force. Therefore, every star, already possessing tangential sideways velocity, would immediately depart from its curved path and fly off into the cosmos along the tangent line of its last position relative to the center.
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