Question

Consider Earth and the Moon. As you should now realize, thegravitational force that Earth exerts on the Moon is equal andopposite to that which the Moon exerts on Earth. Therefore,according to Newton’s second law of motion __________.

CHECK THE RIGHT ANSWER
1)the Moon has a larger acceleration than Earth, because it has asmaller mass
2)Earth has a larger acceleration than the Moon, because it has alarger mass
3)the Moon and Earth both have equal accelerations, because theforces are equal

Answer 1

A. the Moon has a larger acceleration than Earth, because it has a smaller mass.

Step-by-step explanation:

A. the Moon has a larger acceleration than Earth, because it has a smaller mass.

According to Newton's second law F=ma, if we solve for a we have that

a=F/m, the smaller the mass the larger the acceleration given the force is the same, in this case the moon has a smaller mass and therefore a larger acceleration