Question

Two ships are docked next to each other. Their centers of mass are 39m apart. One ship’s mass is 9.2 *10^7 kg and the other ship’s mass is 1.84*10^8 kg. What gravitational force exists between them?

Please help!

Answer 1

742.3N

Step-by-step explanation:

Given parameters:

Distance = 39m

Mass 1 = 9.2 x 10⁷kg

Mass 2 = 1.84 x 10⁸kg

Unknown:

Gravitational force between the ships = ?

Solution:

To solve this problem, we apply the newton's law of universal gravitation:

Fg =
`(G x mass 1 x mass 2)/(r^(2) )`

G is the universal gravitation constant = 6.67 x 10⁻¹¹

r is the distance or separation

Fg =
`(6.67 x 10^(-11) x 9.2 x 10^(7) x 1.84 x 10^(8) )/(39^(2) )` = 742.3N