Question

If you are working with the Law of Universal Gravitation equation:

equation image indicator

What would happen to the magnitude of the force if the distance between the 2 masses is increased by 6?

Answer 1

Answer: It would be decreased by 1/36

Step-by-step explanation:

According to Newton's law of Gravitation, the magnitude of the gravitational force
`F` exerted between two bodies of masses
`m` and
`M` and separated by a distance
`r` is equal to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance:

`F=G(mM)/(r^2)` (1)

Where
`G` is the Gravitational Constant

Now, if the distance between both bodies is
`6 r`, equation (1) becomes:

`F=G(mM)/((6r)^2)` (2)

`F=(1)/(36) G(mM)/(r^2)` (3)

This means the magnitude of the gravitational force decreases by
`(1)/(36)`