Why doesn't the moon crash toward the Earth's surface?
A
It has very little inertia, so it stays in the sky and floats through space
B
It has a lot of mass, so it feels the Earth's gravitational force less than smaller objects do.
C
It has more mass than the Earth, so it stays in one place while the Earth orbits it.
D
Is is too small to fall through the Earth's atmosphere and reach the Earth's surface.

Question

Why doesn't the moon crash toward the Earth's surface?
A
It has very little inertia, so it stays in the sky and floats through space
B
It has a lot of mass, so it feels the Earth's gravitational force less than smaller objects do.
C
It has more mass than the Earth, so it stays in one place while the Earth orbits it.
D
Is is too small to fall through the Earth's atmosphere and reach the Earth's surface.

anonymous · Answer

Because the orbiting of the moon creates a centripetal force that counters the gravity (and actually excedes it very very slightly, which is why the moon is moving away from the earth at about 3-4 cm/year).

anonymous · Answer

If you tie a weight on the end of string and twirl the string around your head you can feel the weight trying to fly away from you. But the string you're holding won't let it fly away. The result is the weight circles around your head. 

 The moon (..the weight..) moves through space with a certain speed. That speed is trying to throw the moon off into deep space. But at the same time Earth's gravity (..the string..) is trying to pull the moon down out of the sky. The two forces exactly cancel each other and the result is the moon neither flying off into space nor crashing down to Earth but going around and around it.

e.mccormick · Answer

This is not a social science question.