Question

Comets move around the sun in highly elliptical orbits. The gravitational force on the comet due to the sun is not normal to the comet’s velocity in general. Yet the work done by the gravitational force over every complete orbit of the comet is zero. Why?

Answer 1

Gravitational force is a conservative force. Since the work done by a conservative force over a closed path is zero, the work done by the gravitational force over every complete orbit of a comet is zero.