Question

Your teacher (175kg) and the lab (15kg) are 2m apart. What is the gravitational force between them? Draw a FBD, and label

Answer 1

The gravitational force between two objects is given by

`F=G (m_1 m_2 )/(r^2)`
where
G is the gravitational constant
m1 and m2 are the masses of the two objects
r is the separation between the two objects

In this problem,
`m_1 = 175 kg`,
`m_2 =15 kg` and
`r=2 m`, therefore the gravitational force between the two objects is

`F=(6.67 \cdot 10^(-11) m^3 kg^(-1) s^(-2)) ((175 kg)(15 kg))/((2m)^2)=4.38 \cdot10^(-8) N`