[editor-surveyor]

"There's more to it than that. If it were simply the gravitational attraction of the Sun on the Earth, the Earth would just be drawn into the Sun and fried"

You really shouldn't have let him in on the secret yet. He should be allowed to continue making a fool of himself with his ignorant, simplistic assertions.

[AndrewC]

If it were simply the gravitational attraction of the Sun on the Earth, the Earth would just be drawn into the Sun and fried

Not really. It might seem so, but angular momentum figures in. I've written computer simulations which only modify the accelerations of bodies based upon their separation and then recalculate their positions and loop. I've used a coordinate system based upon an absolute center and one based upon one of the bodies. Initial conditions have slight relative motions(2D simulation)and a random separation. They don't meet. They orbit.